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“Shut up!” Leiv raises a dismissive hand in his direction. “Carwen, this is my father- your uncle- Haden.”
“Haden? But I thought he ran off with-”
“Me?” Leiv grins. “No, he dropped me off at a home in town and came back for mother, but seems she was a bit more difficult to deal with than I was at the time.”
“Is Maribel here with you?” I bounce on the spot, attempting to peek around the both of them and into the kitchen for our mother.
“Is she serious?” Haden scratches the back of his head, looking me over.
“Not now, Haden.” Leiv points to the couch. “Go sit down, Wild One. I need to have a private discussion with my father.”
I nod, trying to fight the eye roll I would give Alastor had he ordered me to sit and wait like a child, but I relent and walk over, dropping with a huff to the sofa.
“Don’t move.” He gives me a stern look, leaning over and hissing in my ear. “Don’t embarrass me in front of my father, Carwen. I promise you won’t like what happens if you do.”
“Sorry,” I mutter with a pout.
“Every last one of my buttons.” He shakes his head with a small grin. “We can talk in the kitchen, Haden.” Leiv stands, turning his back on me, and follows his father into the kitchen without another word in my direction.
“You have no idea what you’ve welcomed into our home. Do you, Carwen?” Alastor chuckles the second they are out of sight. “Let me up, and I can still fix all of this. I’ll keep you safe, just like I always have.”
“Not happening.” I cross my arms, falling back into the cushions with a huff.
“Was it so bad?” He sighs, studying me. “Was life with me so damn unbearable that you are willing to risk both of our lives?”
“I don’t know. maybe we could ask the girl in the cellar how unbearable you are?” I snort. “Or not. I guess it’s a little too late to ask her any questions. I don’t suppose a corpse would have much in the way of answers, do you?”
“A corpse? In the cellar? You actually went down in that god awful hell hole?!”
“She what?!” I hear Haden shout, and something slams into the wall, breaking.
“What have you done, Carwen?!” Father hisses, his eyes bouncing between me and the door to the kitchen.
“I took care of your whore.” I scoot to the edge of the cushion, arching my neck, and watch Leiv wrestling with his father. I slide my hand into the front pocket of my dress, fingering the small blade I’ve been carrying since I left yesterday. “What the hell are they doing?”
“Untie me, Carwen. Now. Let me up before Haden gets to you.” Alastor pleads, struggling against the ropes holding him in place. “You have no idea what you have done. Let. Me. Up.”
“So you’ll share her?!” Haden shouts from the kitchen, shoving Leiv hard against the wall.
“Fuck, no,” he roars, drawing back and hitting Haden in the face. The crunch of breaking bone is loud enough to turn my stomach, and Haden sways, falling in a heavy heap to the floor.
“Carwen!” Leiv jerks his chin in my direction. “Come here.”
“Well, shit.” I sigh, pushing to my feet. I slowly walk to where he’s standing over his father and put my hands on my hips, examining the body. “Is he dead? Can we bury him under the Chasteberry bushes? He would make great fertilizer, and I would love to place a few chunks in the soil near my flowerbeds, too. I think if we used-”
“You’re incredible.” Leiv places a finger over my lips to silence me and grins from ear to ear himself. “No, Wild One, he’s notdead, but you would have disposed of the body for me, just like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I see no use for him.” I tap Haden with the tip of my shoe, curling up my nose when he groans. “You’ve gone and broken his face, Leiv.”
With that, he laughs out loud, and my soul lights up, knowing I have made him that happy without even trying.
“I did, didn’t I?” He takes my hand, pulling my body against his. “But it will heal, and now he knows I won’t be sharing.”
“Sharing what? We’re family. We have plenty of supplies, and if you are planning on having him stick around, we can find work for him to do to earn his keep. I don’t see a problem with sharing what we have. I mean-”
“You,” he interrupts with a raised brow. “He wants me to share you.”
“Me?” I look down at Haden. The man is in no position to make such a vile request, and I offer Leiv the knife from my pocket. “You said no with your fist, Leiv. Would you like to try a knife? That would leave more of a reminder. A forever no.”
