James noticed the pathetic whimpering the very
SECOND the other man hit the floor – ; the shaking
hands, the gripping at the wounds. How very mortal
of he who thought himself so invincible before.
The feigned smile he’d paraded around before now
melted away to reveal genuine glee, maniacal eyes
watching the show beneath him, feeding into that
god complex. “Good show, old man! Good show!
Now comes the part where you beg for your very
life – ”
Retrieving his sword, he pressed the tip of the blade
against Jack’s cheek. It would have been so easy, so
very satisfying to rip the other limb from limb. But
acting quickly had never ended well for him; his own
ghosts had a habit of making their way back to the
women in his life. And he wouldn’t make that mistake
with Billie – he wouldn’t give Jack the satisfaction.
Crouching down, James kept the blade pressed close
to the skin. “You can stab at me all you’d like, you see,
but it will do you no good. You are trapped like the very
rat you are.” Leaning forward, James lowered his voice,
the tip of the blade just scraping along the skin.
"Terrible thing to be trapped and afraid … – isn’t it? I
myself know both sides. And perhaps that’s where we
differ, Jack old boy. You don’t know people and yet
you expect to rule over them. You only play god in a
way no different than a child.
But you see now, I am god.“
Suddenly, Jack is now the animals he
catches in the woods so familiar, so far
away, and so longed for. See the man
spring before him like the trap closing !
But Jack has not the empathy nor the
wits to realize any of this. He is but the
fool caught even worse than some
poor, dumb, creature.
He is not innocent enough to be as un-
fortunate as his animals.
But as Jack has no sense to realize all
must come full circle, he has not the wit
to beg for his life, nor accept fate and beg
mercy. Like the cobra when cornered and
threatened, he strikes in a manner
similar to the snake in fact. The boy spits,
as sweat and unwilling tears mingle and
sticky his face. Spits, like this will make
him the victor.
❝ There ain’t God and if there was, he
ain’t you. You can’t bring me down Bill-
ie won’t let you . . . . ❞
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
dailybridgerton
stormborns
