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I keep her tied to the wall while I walk over to Althia.
She stirs then, and I am so relieved when her eyes flutter open that I almost burst into tears.
“My darling,” I whisper to her, careful not to touch her face where Yiosha hurt her. “You are okay now. You’re okay now.”
Althia starts sobbing then and the sound breaks my heart.
“Don’t worry. Here I am. You are safe now. Look at me.”
She obeys me, looking up at me.
“You are safe. Nothing and no one is going to hurt you ever again. I’m here to protect you, Althia,” I tell her as I smooth a hand over her forehead.
“You’re going to protect me?” Her eyes brighten, and I nod.
I stroke her back slowly as her breathing slows down.
I see him then. Nexus, curled up on the bed behind Althia, his head on his paws, his eyes wide open.
As if he is keeping guard.
“And look,” I tell Althia, my voice soft.
“Nexus is here to take care of you, too. But now, darling, I need to kill the woman who hurt you.”
I stand then, and when I turn to Yiosha, she is staring at Althia with such hatred on her face that I have to restrain myself from burning her alive.
She doesn’t deserve a quick death. She doesn’t deserve a quick, easy, painless death. You’re going to give her exactly what she gave to Althia.
I summon my fire. Yiosha’s eyes widen, the look in them frantic, as I get closer and closer.
And when the flames touch her skin, all that can be heard are her screams.
23
VALKUS
Yiosha has been a servant in our household for a long time. She has always been loyal to my mother.
And now that loyalty has led to her death.
I can tell that her body is already bruised and broken, but that doesn’t stop me from kicking her.
It doesn’t stop me from punching her until we’re both breathless. It doesn’t stop me from choking her with both hands until her eyes start to bulge.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!”
I did not know that I was capable of this kind of rage. I did not know that I could care this much.
And now that Althia has opened me up and unlocked the dark thing inside me, the thing that has remained coiled up and festering in me for years, I cannot control it.
All I can do is let it out.
And letting it out means kicking the shit out of Yiosha.
Yiosha has already urinated on the floor, and blood is dripping from her nose. She coughs every time I kick her. It is a deep, wheezing, wracking cough that reverberates throughout the room.
I grab her by the collar of her dress and drag her to her feet, although she cannot really stand on her own any longer.
