They Crossed Me, I Became the God of war

Chapter 2

Gideon kicked the broken front door open and walked into the dark hall. Cold rain dripped from his coat as he looked around the ruined house. Broken glass lay all over the wet floorboards, and the freezing wind blew through the open doorway.

In the middle of the room sat a single wooden chair. Cassandra was tied to it with thick ropes, her dress torn and her hair hanging over her face. A dark purple mark covered her cheek, and her body shook in the cold.

"Gideon!" Cassandra screamed the second she saw him, bursting into loud sobs. "You came back! Please hurry! Dominic and his men took Lily and Maya away to the docks!"

Gideon rushed forward across the wet floor, dropping to one knee beside her. Seeing the woman he loved hurt and tied up made his heart ache with deep pain. For ten long years in the cold north, the thought of keeping her safe had kept him alive.

"I am here now, Cassandra," Gideon whispered softly, reaching for the rough ropes around her chest. "Do not be afraid anymore. Just hold on for a second, and I will get you out right now."

He did not look for a knife to cut the cords. Gideon grabbed the thick ropes with his bare hands and pulled with sudden, terrifying strength. The heavy hemp tore apart in his grip as easily as wet paper.

The broken ropes fell to the floor, freeing her hands and chest. Gideon let out a breath of relief, quickly bending down to pull the cords off her feet. "You are safe now," he said gently. "Nobody will ever hurt you again."

The loud crying stopped in an instant, cutting off completely. The room fell dead silent, and the sweet smell of her perfume filled the air. Gideon felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck right before the blow landed.

A sharp pain bit deep into his chest before he could stand. A sharp dagger drove straight through his coat, sinking deep into the muscle near his collarbone. Dark red blood quickly spread across his torn shirt from the clean cut.

The blade was coated with green poison meant to stop a heart on the spot. But Gideon had survived ten years of brutal poison on the border, so the venom did nothing to him. Yet the cold bite of the steel made the breath freeze in his throat.

He had survived hundreds of bullets, bombs, and blades in the trenches without making a sound. None of those old wounds hurt half as much as this small stab in his chest. It had not come from an enemy soldier, but from the woman he loved.

Gideon slowly lifted his head, his dark eyes filled with shock and heartbreak. "Cassandra... why?" he asked, his voice shaking with raw pain. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Cassandra was not crying anymore, and her face showed no fear at all. Her eyes were cold and dry, twisting into a hateful grin as she pressed down on the handle. "Why?" she spat out. "Because you are a dead man, Gideon! You were always meant to die!"

Gideon did not scream or pull away from the sharp point in his flesh. His bare left hand shot up like an iron clamp, grabbing the steel blade. With a quiet crunch of raw power, Gideon squeezed his fist and crushed the metal into fine dust.

Cassandra gasped in sudden horror, falling backward until her back hit the wall. She slid down to the wet floor, holding her shaking wrist and staring at his hand in disbelief. Her pale lips trembled, unable to understand the strength that had broken the steel.

Bright lights suddenly snapped on all around the room, washing away the shadows. The sudden glare was so sharp it blinded the eyes. Heavy boots stomped across the floorboards as armed men stepped out from the side rooms, pointing rifles straight at Gideon.

Dominic Caldwell walked out from the back hallway, stepping onto the floor in a clean white suit. He held a glass of brown liquor in his hand, a cruel smile spreading across his face. He walked right up to the circle of guards, looking Gideon up and down like a dead dog.

"Look at the great border soldier," Dominic mocked, swirling the drink in his hand. "You crawled all the way back from the cold front, Knox, only to walk right into my trap. Did you really think you were coming home to a warm bed and a faithful woman?"

Cassandra pushed herself up from the wall, her fear turning into smug pride. She took a wet cloth from her pocket and wiped the fake purple bruise from her cheek. In three quick rubs, the mark was gone, leaving clean skin behind.

She walked across the open floor, her high heels clicking loudly on the wet wood. She walked past the line of armed guards and stood right beside Dominic. Reaching out, she rested her hand casually on Dominic's white sleeve.

"Did you really think I waited ten years for a broke criminal?" Cassandra sneered, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Dominic gave me millions in cash, fast cars, and a place in high society. What could a dirty beggar from the north ever give me besides shame?"

Gideon stood tall in the middle of the room, looking at them with cold, empty eyes. A bitter truth clicked into place inside his mind as he looked at her smug smile. The shipping routes and millions that had built her company had never come from the Caldwell family.

From the blood of the northern border, Gideon had secretly ordered his men to send contracts to protect her. Dominic had simply stolen those military deals and handed them to Cassandra under his own name. The man she worshiped was nothing more than a thief.

Yet looking at Cassandra resting against Dominic's arm, Gideon felt no desire to explain anything. She had made her choice with her own hands, trading ten years of devotion for stolen gold. A woman who could stab him in the chest deserved neither mercy nor the truth.

"If you value your lives," Gideon said, his deep voice shaking the cold room, "step aside and let me walk out of here right now." His words were calm, but they carried the weight of a man who had killed warlords in the snow.

Dominic threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound echoing off the walls like a slap. "Let you leave?" Dominic mocked, tossing a black folder through the air. The papers slapped hard against the wet floor right in front of Gideon's boots.

"Those are the papers for your family harbor rights," Dominic said, his smile turning sharp and ugly. "Sign them, Knox. Give up your family's land and sign the paper saying you ran from the army. Do that, and maybe I will buy you a cheap box for your grave."

Gideon did not look down at the papers on the floor. His dark eyes stayed locked onto Dominic's neck, so cold that the nearest guards took a nervous step back. "And if I refuse to sign your stolen papers?" Gideon asked, his voice flat as stone.

"You have no choice, dog," Dominic sneered, taking a step forward on the wooden floor. "If you want to walk out of this room alive, you sign those papers right now. And then, you must take a blade and kill an annoying, filthy woman for me."

Gideon's brow furrowed slightly as he stared across the room. "A woman?" he repeated quietly, the cold anger in his chest burning deeper. He knew the Caldwell family had no honor, but using an innocent woman was too low.

Dominic snapped his fingers with a wide, wicked grin, shouting toward the dark basement door at the back of the hall. "Bring the old dog out!" Dominic ordered the guards waiting in the dark. "Drag her out here and let him see who he has to butcher if he wants to live!"