AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Juliet froze, her voice a trembling whisper. “That bloody bastard.”
Ness fell backward onto her bottom, looking away from Juliet.
“Dammit, Ness. Your face.” She scanned her friend’s face. Her cheeks and eyes so bruised, cut and swollen that Ness could only open her right eye.
Juliet looked to the rest of Ness’s body, her breath catching at the blood-splattered blue dress.
“Hell, your arm—that’s not right.” Juliet’s hand flew out, her fingertips touching Ness’s left forearm that was hanging unnaturally crooked from her elbow.
Ness jerked back at the touch, a scream escaping her lips.
Juliet’s hands flew up, palms to her. “Stop, Ness. Stop. I won’t touch you. I understand. Everything hurts on you. Everything. I understand. I can see it.”
“Why didn’t you let me jump?” The screech stayed in Ness’s voice. “Why? It could be over. Over. Right now it would be over.”
“No—I would never let you do that. Never.” Her hand went down, her fingertips setting onto Ness’s knee, hoping it wasn’t bruised and broken as well. At her touch, Ness didn’t wince. Small favor. “What happened?”
“Gilroy.” Her right eye closed and she drew a shuddered breath. “The wedding—it unleashed something in him. The monster. The monster that he’d only ever had thin control over is out.”
Juliet exhaled, all of her breath leaving her. “No. No.”
Ness’s right eye opened, visceral panic shining in her amber iris. “He’s going to kill me, Juliet. And I cannot stand it another second, not knowing when death is coming.” Her voice lifted, shifting into a hysterical screech. “Don’t you understand? This is all I have left—the only thing I have control over. Death—at least I can decide that for myself. I can choose it. He cannot.”
Her hand tightened on Ness’s knee. “Death is not coming.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” She leaned closer to Ness, making sure Ness was looking directly at her with her good eye. “I’m not in your mind, your beaten body right now, so how could I understand? But I do know what this is.”
Her head dipped down for a second as she drew a deep breath. “Believe me, I do. I understand the hopelessness you’re feeling. The loss of everything in your life. I’ve lived that loss. And I’ve seen countless women come to me looking as you do in this moment. But this is the moment when you need to breathe. Breathe for another minute. Another hour. That is all I ask. Another breath. And before you know it, it’s another day. Then the next. Keep breathing and don’t stop.”
Ness shook her head and Juliet saw it deep in her soul.
Utter, heart wrenching defeat.
In that instant, Juliet knew what she had to do, no matter what it cost her.
She squeezed Ness’s knee. “I will help you leave.”
“What?”
“I will sneak you away from the castle. Now. This moment. I will get you out of here. This is the exact right time.”
Juliet got to her feet, stepping to the side of Ness and she threaded her hand under Ness’s right arm, lifting her friend to her feet. “There are so many cousins here, the stables are a mess with all the horses. I can easily steal one and I will get you out. I will see that you’re protected far away from here. You will disappear from this land, never to be heard of again and Gilroy will forget about you.”
Ness swayed on her feet. “But he—he will never forget. He’s mad—obsessive. He’ll never leave me be.”
“He’ll leave you be for he’ll never be able to find you. I swear it.”
Ness shook her head, still fighting the true possibility of an escape. “But how? Where will I go? I have nothing—no money—no one to turn to that will hide me from him.”
Juliet lifted her right boot, pointing at the heel of it. “I always have money on my person. Coins and a dagger.”
Ness looked down, confusion in her eye. “Coins and a dagger? But why would you do that? Who are you that you would carry that with you?”
Juliet’s mouth pulled to a tight line. “I have reasons. And the result of those reasons is the very thing that is going to get you away from here. All you have to do is trust me.”
A garbled squeak came from Ness’s mouth. “But I don’t think I can.” Her right hand moved from clutching her left arm to grip Juliet’s forearm. “I fear I cannot believe you.”
