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"Edward?" Leah whispered to him, her hand warming that place on his shoulder, as the warmth slowly spread through his body all the way toward his heart. She brought him back to the present moment, to reality. She made him stop. Otherwise, he was certain that he would have killed that man, the man who had taken his parents, Leah's mother and countless other lives.
"He doesn't deserve to live," Edward growled at the man who was still alive, barely breathing on the floor.
"If you kill him, then you are no better than he is," Leah reminded him, in her angelic voice that always helped him distinguish between right and wrong.
"I don't want to be like him," he jumped up, disgusted that there was even the slight chance of him acting like this animal.
"I know you could never be," Leah smiled, wrapping her arms around Edward and pressing her head to his chest. "I know you are consumed by your desire for vengeance but trust me. This vengeance isn't ours. All we are here to do is to bring this man before justice. He will be punished, both in this world and the next. I am certain of that."
He had to admit that she was right. She always knew what to say, to calm down the storm that was inside his heart. Before her, he didn't know how to soothe this pain, this torment. She knew exactly how. And she managed to do it every single time, without mistake.
He wrapped his arms around her as well. They finally found out the truth. It was painful. It did not bring their loved ones back, just like they didn't think it would. But the truth deserved to be told. The guilty parties deserved to be brought before the face of justice. It was simply how life ought to be.
When she finally released him, he could see tears on her face. He wiped them off with the tips of his fingers. He hated when she cried. That meant she was in pain. He never wanted her to be in pain again. He would live out the rest of his life making sure she never cried. But now, they still needed to find their way out of this house.
"Are you ready to go home?" he asked, taking her by the hand and bringing it to his lips for a loving peck. Her hands were cold. He could see the red lines from the ropes that were tied around her wrists. He wanted to go back and punch that vile man several more times for doing this to Leah, but the Marquess wasn't worth it. He would get what he deserved. Edward was certain of that. Like Leah said, he shouldn't stoop down to his level and be like him. Never.
"I think we need to go upstairs," she suggested. "This is a cellar of some sort."
"You need to stay close to me," he advised. "And we should find a weapon of some sort. There are at least three more men we need to take down, and probably even more."
She looked around. "What if you break that chair and we use the legs as weapons?"
He grinned. "That's my girl."
He walked over to one of the chairs, took it in his hands and smashed it against the floor. The legs all fell apart from the seat. Two of the legs were even pointy on one end, which could come in handy. He hoped he would not need to kill anyone, just incapacitate them until he and Leah had their chance to escape this dreadful house. He took one of the chair legs and offered Leah the other.
"You hit hard, my love, understood?" he advised.
She nodded quickly. The way she was holding that chair leg, firmly with both hands planted around it, he was certain that she would hit well. For some reason, he loved her even more for it. Many women froze in the face of danger. He had seen it so many times. He heard so many stories. But not Leah. She reminded him of his own mother, filled with vigor and courage. They would never allow a man to keep them down.
"Ready?" he asked, staring at her.
"Ready," she echoed.
How beautiful she was, his love, his warrior, his life. He knew it now, just like he knew it before. There would never be another woman for him. Never. Leah was forever. He was hers and she was his. Even if they didn't leave this house alive. He tried to banish such negative thoughts.We shall get out of this.He kept repeating this over and over. She was leaning on him. She relied on him. He was the voice of reason. And that reason needed to assure them that they would both survive, no matter how many men there were upstairs.
He leaned closer to kiss her. He wasn't planning on making this their last kiss. In fact, this was their first kiss after they found out the truth. And there would be many more to follow.
CHAPTER27
Leah allowed Edward to take her upstairs cautiously. They moved like two mice, trying to make as little noise as possible. Then, when they were at the last stair, they saw an open door leading into one of the rooms on the ground floor. There were voices coming from inside.
"There are at least three voices I hear," Edward whispered, as they crouched behind the door. "I can't make out what they are saying. They are probably those three men that captured us. We have to take them by surprise if we want to have any chance of overpowering them."
Leah nodded. "What do we do?"
"I'll rush in first. I'll try to take out all three. You come inside only if I call you.Only.Do you understand?" He sounded grave. The little lines on his forehead were more visible than ever. His voice ordered her, but his eyes pleaded.
"But... what if–"
"No," he cut her off. "If you hear that they overpowered me, you try to find a way out of this house."
"I won't leave you!" she almost exclaimed aloud, but quickly pressed her hand over her lips.
"You have to," he urged. "You have a chance to save yourself. I will keep them distracted long enough."
"But Edward–" Before she could continue with her statement, he pressed his lips onto hers once more. She knew that she would not be able to change his mind. All she could do was agree.
