Chapter 9: Jaxon
I sit in the passenger seat, silent, watching from the side mirror as Silas drags the girl toward the car. Paige’s small frame twists and kicks against his shoulder, her arms and legs flailing, hitting him, clawing and scratching, though it’s about as effective as trying to stop a boulder from rolling downhill. Silas barely even registers her fight, the small smirk on his lips widening as he shifts her weight easily, striding forward like he’s carrying nothing more than a bag of groceries.
Paige lets out a sharp scream, pure frustration lacing her voice as she slams her fists against his back, but he keeps walking, unbothered. He reaches the car, swings open the trunk, and, with a swift motion, throws her inside, slamming the lid shut on her last half-spoken threat.
Silas strides around to the driver’s seat, slipping in and giving me a satisfied look as he settles, his bloody hands gripping the wheel, his knuckles raw, suit splattered with crimson streaks. He glances at me, showing off the fresh bite mark on his hand with a chuckle. “Feisty little thing, isn’t she?” He gestures at the bite, amused, as if it’s the best souvenir he’s ever gotten.
I raise an eyebrow, unimpressed. “What’s the point in hauling her along? You know she’ll be more trouble than she’s worth.”
Silas shrugs, the corner of his mouth lifting in a knowing smirk. “This girl, Jaxon… you have no idea the kind of value she holds. She’s not just a translator. She’s been in every Crimson Circle meeting, heard every deal, every whisper. She knows more about the Crimsons—and every other gang they’ve done business with—than they realize. She’s a goldmine of information.”
I watch him for a moment, noting the glint in his eyes, the satisfaction simmering there. “And you think the Crimsons are going to let us waltz off with her? They’ll tear the city apart to get her back.”
He scoffs, brushing it off with a wave of his hand as he steers the car down the narrow, winding road. “Let them come. Let them try.” He chuckles, eyes fixed on the road. “It’ll be fun.”
I look back out the side mirror, watching the dark trees whip past, the remnants of the abandoned meeting place fading into the distance. “Seems like a lot of risk for one girl. Almost… desperate.”
Silas’s smirk turns sly, his gaze flicking to me. “Funny coming from you, Jaxon. Considering I saw you kill one of our own just to pull her out of a chokehold.”
My jaw tightens slightly, but I don’t bother with a reaction. “That man was a fool,” I say, keeping my voice level. “Didn’t know his place.”
Silas chuckles, low and mocking. “Or maybe she got under your skin, hmm?”
I turn my gaze back to the dark road stretching ahead, ignoring his implication. The last thing I need is to justify anything I do. The man back there deserved to be put down; he was sloppy and pathetic, a liability. That’s all. The girl? She doesn’t matter. Not even a blip on my radar.
A muffled shout echoes from the trunk, cutting through the engine’s hum, and I glance in the rearview mirror, catching a faint glimpse of Paige’s shadowed form as she kicks against the metal, her voice sharp and laced with fury.
“Let me out, you sad excuses for villains!” Her voice is muffled but shrill. “I swear, when I get out of here, I’ll make both of you regret the day you learned to walk upright!”
Silas laughs, a low, hearty sound that fills the car. He glances over, catching my eye, shaking his head. “I think she might actually believe she’s a threat. Cute, isn’t it?”
I hold back the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth, forcing my expression to remain blank as she continues yelling from the trunk.
“I hope you both enjoy your last days with fully functioning organs!” she screams, voice strained and furious. “You’ll wish I’d finished you off myself before I’m through!”
Silas lets out a dark chuckle, still shaking his head as he drives. “Quite the mouth on her, isn’t she? Honestly, it’s almost entertaining.” He raises an eyebrow at me, a spark of humor in his eyes. “Think she’s getting tired back there?”
“Doesn’t sound like it,” I mutter, crossing my arms, the faintest smirk slipping through despite myself.
She starts banging again, her fists hitting the trunk’s interior with a renewed energy, and her voice shrieks out, trying to cut through the metal. “You two are nothing more than overgrown cockroaches in suits! When I get out of here, I’m going to step on you, both of you!”
Silas lets out a louder laugh, shaking his head as he looks at me with a twisted grin. “She’s creative, I’ll give her that.”
In the silence that follows, her voice fades into muffled echoes, her insults growing faint as we drive farther from everything familiar. And though I keep my gaze trained on the road ahead, I can still feel her in the back of my mind—a lingering, furious presence. She’s just another pawn, just another job, another body to keep breathing until she isn’t useful anymore.
And yet, as the night stretches out before us, I can’t quite shake the strange feeling that she’s something else—something I can’t yet define but that’s somehow settled, unwanted, under my skin.