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I don’t, because screaming will show him that he scares me, and I’m going to be the scariest motherfucker in this room. The mystery ofhowthis happened will have to be addressed later. Obviously, Essos had no idea he was back, or he would have said something to me. Gods, I doubt Essos would have ever left our room, or at least my side.
I grab a plate and start to pile it with food, anxious just from being around Galen, but turning tail and leaving isn’t an option. I don’t want to show him that weakness. I should have walked out as soon as I saw that I would be alone with him. I should have turned around and waited for Xavier or Essos or Cat or literally anyone. I won’t stay; I’m going to grab my food and leave.
“It’s wonderful to see you’ve decided to carry our child.”
Galen’s words chill me, and I almost drop the tongs I’m using to grab kielbasa.
“You’re fucking delusional,” I hiss, wanting to find it in myself to look up and meet his eye, but I can’t. Not when he’s looking at me like he owns me. I can feel his gaze on me like a tangible touch.
I’m afraid that leaving now will just embolden him. I don’t want him to know that he scares me enough to send me running in my own home.
“Am I? I seem to remember the feel of your tight little body under mine.”
The reminder of that night makes anger burns through me, white-hot. That night, Kai had lost the second trial, and Galen thought that my active participation in the charade of our engagement meant he was welcome in my bed.
“I seem to remember nearly cutting your dick off that night. No, this baby is my husband’s, through and through.” I finish loading my plate and turn to leave him behind and sit outside, away from his toxicity.
Galen moves quickly from his chair and stands beside me. He grips my arm tightly. “We can always start over, you and I. No need for this animosity to continue any further.”
I turn my head a fraction toward him…and then my actions stop being my own.
I pivot toward him completely. Pursing my lips, I blow in his face, then watch as his eyes turn totally white.
He lets go of me as if burned, his head whipping around frantically like he’s unable to see anything. I step back, terrified of what’s happening. I don’t understand it myself, and I back up until I hit the buffet table against the wall. There’s an acidic smell in the air, and I notice a dark spot growing on Galen’s shorts.
“Essos!” I cry, the plea a mixture of fear and concern. Whatever is happening here warrants a scream. Dave gets to me first and places himself between Galen and me, barking his head off.
Essos appears at my side and immediately checks me over, but he’s quickly distracted.
Galen is screaming and scratching at his face. He’s drawing bloody gouges down his cheeks, and then all at once…it stops.
“Galen?” Essos says, his voice low, nearly a whisper of shock. He stays glued beside me.
Galen lifts his head and looks at me in wonder and fear. “What did you do to me?” he demands.
“Me? Nothing, I…I…” My words falter as Essos turns to look at me. His gaze rakes over me, pausing at my arm where Galen grabbed me, and his eyes darken.
“You should go, Daphne,” Essos tells me, voice low and lethal.
“The things I saw…I was never going to escape…it was dark, and they were on me. What did youdo?” Galen sounds haunted, and then he leaps for me, his arms outstretched.
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything!” I maintain, dropping my plate and scuttling back.
Essos lunges forward and grabs Galen by the shoulders, then hauls him off the floor and throws him onto the dining room table, which collapses under the force. My husband is on his brother in a heartbeat, pulling him up by the lapels of his shirt. Galen hangs dumbly from his hands until Essos nails him with a right hook to the jaw, followed by another punch.
The brothers start to grapple, and it’s not for fun. This isn’t boys being boys. Essos is taking out all the rage and frustration he’s kept on a tight leash for centuries for the better of the realms. He takes a left hook but deflects the next and manages an uppercut that sends Galen sprawling. There is no hesitation before Essos is on him again, whaling on him. My husband’s fist comes back bloodier and bloodier with each strike, and I’m not sure whose blood it is anymore.
Galen starts to laugh and keeps laughing long after the sound of flesh pounding flesh has stopped. Essos lets him go and stands up straight, rubbing the back of his hand along his mouth to catch whatever blood is there. I step forward and put a hand on my husband’s shoulder, hoping to soothe him.
“If you so much aslookat my wife again, I will carve out your eyeballs with the God Killer dagger and feed them to you. And if you lay a single finger on Daphne without her express permission, I will leave you with bloody stumps and gift your hands to you as a fucking necklace.” Essos’s ragged breathing is finally calming. He tugs on the bottom of his suit jacket, straightening it, as he glares at his brother with murderous intent.
“Someone sounds worried that maybe this baby might not actually be his,” Galen taunts, then spits a mouthful of blood.
Essos doesn’t hesitate to cock his fist back and hit his brother again and again. I hear the crunch of bones breaking and worry it might be a knuckle.
All this commotion finally draws the rest of the family, except for Finn and Dion, down.
Essos snarls in Galen’s face. “Give me a reason, asshole, please. I don’t care if it upsets Octavia. I will carve you into pieces and dump you into the bottom of the ocean, and I’ll sleep better for it.” My husband straightens up, breathing heavily.
