Taking Command Book 2 (Kylux)

Chapter 17: Point of No Return

Hux PoV

I watched Kylo as he glanced between me and the lightsaber Snoke held to my neck. My heart was beating fast. "Kylo." I whispered. "You know what to do."

Kylo shook his head at me, losing his helmet as he removed it to bare his face. He was pale and scared looking. "I can't lose you, Hux." He looked at me. He held one hand out, but I did not return the gesture.

"Decide." Snoke moved the saber closer to me. It burned me slightly and I winced. "If you deny me, know that both of your deaths will be agonizing and slow. If you accept my offer, I might spare his life."

I knew that there was no way that Snoke would allow me to live. I was a danger to his plans, and I was also too much of a rallying point to his apprentice. I was a walking threat to him, and we both knew it.

"If I come back..." Kylo's voice broke a little bit as he spoke, "will you promise to swear Hux?" The look he gave me was full of love and helplessness.

"No..." I murmured, "don't do this." I knew that Kylo would do it. He would do anything to keep me safe.

Snoke ignored me and turned to Kylo, no longer aiming his saber at me. "What would I have that would guarantee your word?" He walked over to Kylo, leaving me half conscious on the floor, frozen in horror.

As Kylo negotiated with his former master, an idea came to me. I rolled over on my side and drew my blaster pistol. He was barely still in range, and this might not kill him, but maybe it would give Kylo time to kill Snoke. Even if he stopped it in midair, it would distract him, and hopefully Kylo could do something.

Thankful that I had custom made the safety activation on the gun silent, I cocked the gun and steadied it at Snoke, then I fired; I aimed right between the shoulders.

It was a true shot, but Snoke reacted predictably. He froze it in midair, but in that second where his back was to Kylo, Kylo ran his blade through Snoke's back, cutting up, bisecting him from the waist up, slicing his head in half.

"I'm pretty sure he's dead," Kylo said breathlessly, as if not able to believe what had just transpired.

"You think?" I gasped from the ground. I was amazed and overjoyed. Kylo ran over to me and held me close.

"I read your thoughts. I'm surprised Snoke didn't. That was a smart idea. I never thought of it. I wasn't acting. I think that that was the key. He was expecting something from me, not you. He probably read my mind and saw my fear and terror and loyalty towards and for you. It was not until you fired at him that I read your thoughts, at which point I acted." Kylo said this all very quickly, and I put a finger to his lips.

"Shut up and kiss me. Live the moment of happiness."

Kylo grinned. "I could not say it better."

When his lips met mine, it was like nothing else in the world existed. I was not injured and in pain, and he had not just killed his sadistic mentor. It was like two magnets being attracted to each other. Like fire and ice meeting and creating the liquid that kept the world going.

We had crossed the point of no return. We were the new rulers of the First Order, and we were about to bring the galaxy into a new era. Today, the end of the Republic began.