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“I’m afraid not. I can’t even tell you how many were with him. I saw a few of them leave. After they put you in the cell, I imagine.” Harry pointed at a set of double doors. “Your wife is in there. I hope your Mrs. is safe.”
18
VIOLET
She stood in front of the fireplace, still holding the metal bar she’d speared the monster with. Blood dripped from its pointed tip, soaking into her mud-caked boots.
Julius was dragging his body toward the door. His breaths wheezed and rattled as he gasped for air and struggled with the effort of crawling away from her.
She should be ecstatic to see him so desperate. Exactly the way he’d wanted her to be. Slithering over the floor like the snake he was. In the back of her mind, she was aware that Gavin needed her help, and yet she was frozen where she stood. Her blood no longer pumped hot with anger. Instead, she shivered with a cold that made little sense, especially when she was standing right next to a fire.
The skin of her face prickled, the feeling of ants biting her everywhere Julius had touched. Everything in her life was already tainted… and now this. Her heart ached so fiercely that it bordered on physical pain. She was a disappointment. She should have stopped Julius sooner. Instead, she’d allowed him to live despite knowing he was doing this to people.
It had been easier to turn her face away and pretend it didn’t happen. After all, everyone else ignored it, so who was she to raise a flag and call attention to it?
It hadn’t affected her at the time, and with a god pursuing her, Julius Coventry had been the least of her worries. What a fool she’d been. Her gut twisted with a sudden need to empty itself.
Julius gasped for air, pulling her out of her stupor. He raised his torso up on shaking arms, almost at the door, but then collapsed on the floor.
Dargan’s voice was a whispering memory in her mind. Time to go. Although he was no longer here, she obeyed his command almost blindly, following the bloody trail Julius had left behind. Maybe she should end him now, before she went to find Gavin. The most evil side of her reared its ugly head.
Hadn’t he wanted her to suffer? Hadn’t he told her how he’d hurt her—rape her? Fuck him. Completely ignoring him and the blood pooling on the ground, she stepped over him and headed for the door. If he hadn’t been such a monster, he’d have the most skilled healer she’d ever seen at his disposal.
The door was locked from the inside, the key stuck inside the brass plate to prevent anyone from opening it from the other side. Gavin’s face flashed through her mind, lighting a new fire within her to move her numb body and gather the remaining dregs of her energy.
She cracked the door open and peered outside. The hall looked dim and empty. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip around the bloody handle of the poker. She closed the door behind her and locked it, dropping the key in her pocket.
A slow death was what that bastard deserved, and she was happy to provide it.
Two large men stormed out of a set of double doors on the other side of the hall. Violet’s heart leaped, and for a moment she stood frozen in her spot. She lifted her makeshift weapon—and dropped it again. There was no need to attack or escape. She would recognize him anywhere. The way he walked and the wide set of those shoulders. Silence draped over them as she studied his handsome face in the shadows. Her husband—Gavin—was here.
Violet’s legs gave way, too numb to hold her weight any longer. She sank to the floor, and he ran to her. The messy waves of his hair barely covered a dried patch of blood that was smeared down the side of his face.
“Hey… are you all right?” He kneeled in front of her, one of his hands resting on her thigh, burning through the cloth of her pants. Why was he concerned for her wellbeing? Ridiculous—he was the one who’d got hurt, not her.
Yes, she wanted to say, but the word stuck in her throat.
A second man came into view, towering over them. She flinched away and tried to get to her feet.
“It’s all right, he’s with me.” Gavin’s grip around her leg tightened. His fingers trailed down her cheek, and it was only then that she realized her skin was damp with tears. She let go of the metal bar and grasped his hand like a lifeline. Everything else faded into the background.
Even though he could have escaped, Gavin had come to save her. He hadn’t abandoned her or betrayed her like she would have expected him to—although perhaps that would have been easier. A sob left her lips, and she launched herself at him, crushing her lips to his. The kiss lasted less than a heartbeat, but was returned just as eagerly.
“I was supposed to be the one finding you.” She pulled away, frowning. “But I’m happy you found me instead…”
“If you receive me like this every time, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of me.” Gavin glanced at the door behind her. The cords of his neck tensed as he swallowed thickly. What was he thinking?
“Where is Julius?” he asked.
Did Gavin want to go in there to make sure his old friend was, in fact, dead? Did he even want him to be, or was Gavin the sort of man who forgave quickly enough to keep even a monster alive?
Maybe he’d want to help Julius, instead?
Violet sniffed and wiped her wet nose with her arm, buying herself time to process her contrasting emotions. The glee that Gavin was alive and the dread that Julius might still survive threw her off kilter.
She trusted Gavin, but she also knew that he was all good… when she was not.
“He’s no longer our problem.” She patted the key in her pocket to make sure it was still there, relaxing when she felt it beneath the layer of her wool pants.
