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Her clothes were left behind as she fled, the tears loud through the hallway when she left. Her door slammed shut a moment later. Even though it was impossible, I could still hear her cries.
I could hear them haunting me.
Torturing me.
I left the next morning without saying goodbye.
It was an impromptu visit to the camp, but that was how I liked to work.
No one knew when I would move.
And I didn’t want to see Melanie for a few days. I was pissed she’d made that attempt after I’d bared my soul to her, and I was pissed at myself for making my woman cry like that.
I hated her for doing that. For making me hurt her. For making me disappoint her. For making me the villain.
When I was the victim a million times over.
I made the drive with my hand tight on the steering wheel, speeding around the cars that wouldn’t get the fuck out of my way. Music didn’t distract me from my thoughts, and I was hit with a flood of flashbacks.
All of Chérie.
The men were surprised at my arrival, but they had a fresh horse for me to ride across the well-beaten path flattened by wagons and horses. I rode hard and made it to the camp right at dusk.
Torches were lit. The last bit of light left the sky. The camp was quiet. I dropped down from the horse and threw the reins to one of the guards who waited for me. When the men tried to follow me, I gave them a look that clearly said I wanted to be alone.
All I wanted to do was see Magnus—and get to work.
I passed between two cabins then moved past the clearing, seeing the empty picnic tables where the women worked. My eyes flicked to the noose there. The ground below wasn’t covered with red snow—but the earth was tinted red. My gaze lingered for seconds, a chasm forming in my chest and filling with sensations I couldn’t understand. I looked away and kept going.
Then I heard a scream pierce the night.
“Magnus!” A woman screamed with the full capacity of her lungs.
I stilled. My eyes scanned the area. I searched for the source.
“Please!” Tears broke her voice. “Please let me go.”
I moved forward, circumvented a cabin in my way, and then spotted the scene.
Alix had Raven by the hair, and he dragged her naked body across the ground, her skin getting caked with dust. Tears stained her cheeks, and the identical eyes she shared with Melanie showed the exact same look of despair I’d seen dozens of times.
My eyes lifted to Alix, who was too busy sneering down at her to notice. He gave her scalp a painful tug to make her cry out again, as if torturing Magnus, who was nowhere around. There was only one reason he wouldn’t be around.
I stopped in front of Alix and stared.
He seemed to feel my presence because he looked up.
And paled.
He stopped dragging Raven. He stopped breathing. He met my gaze and swallowed. Alix was a grown-ass man, but he turned into a boy when he was the recipient of my stare. There were no breaths. No movements. It was as if he were scared to move.
If Raven looked at me, I didn’t notice.
Rage burned inside me, bubbling like boiling water. “Let her go.”
Alix obeyed and let her collapse to the dirt.
The door to the guards’ cabin burst open—and Magnus ran out and nearly tripped on the stairs because he was in such a rush to get to Raven.
Eric and Nathan emerged from behind him.
I didn’t look at my brother again, my fury reserved for the man I wanted to butcher with a butter knife. My anger was audible without my voice rising a single decibel, so I didn’t need to scream to express my disappointment. “This woman doesn’t belong to you—and you know that.”
Alix was stupid enough to argue, to somehow justify his actions, to somehow pretend he hadn’t been caught with his pants down. “She’s a prisoner—”
“Don’t. Speak.”
Alix inhaled a deep breath, growing so timid at my stare that he dropped his gaze.
Good. “She belongs to Magnus.” I pulled a blade from my pocket and placed the tip right against Alix’s heart, the point digging into the fabric of his shirt. “Touch her again, and I will not hesitate to slam this deep into your heart and make it stop.”
Alix didn’t even breathe.
Magnus yanked his shirt over his head and dropped it over Raven’s body when he reached her.
She pulled the shirt to her thighs before she clung to him, holding on like she was too afraid to let go. Silent tears still dripped down her cheeks. Her body convulsed in a way I’d never seen before, even when she was whipped.
Magnus displayed the kind of affection I gave Chérie—cupping her face and brushing away her tears. It was a quick moment, only lasted a few seconds, but it showed a side to my brother I’d never seen. He helped her to her feet.
