Chapter Thirty-Five
………………………….
Ily
I WOKE AND STRETCHED IN THE sunlight.
Happiness beamed through my every cell. The indulgence of knowing I didn’t have to rush out of bed for a job or a Master… heaven.
Rolling onto my side, I hugged my pillow and looked at Henri.
He lay on his stomach, facing away from me with his arms above his head, and a sheet pooling around his waist.
My heart throbbed with love even while the tiniest whisper of annoyance formed. I’d loved having sex with him last night. I’d come, and it felt good, but…it hadn’t fulfilled that ache . That burn. That utter annihilation that I’d grown addicted to each time he fucked me.
Memories flashed through my head: him flogging me before mounting me. Him delivering pain as well as outrageous pleasure. My core clenched. I reached to run my fingers down his back—to wake him up and try to tease him into snapping only…
Sunlight cascaded over his skin.
I gasped in horror as I bolted upright.
His beautiful back.
The part of his body that I’d lusted after every time he’d marched around our room in Joyero after a shower. The long sleek lines of muscle. The powerful breadth of his shoulders.
All ruined.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I traced the thick savage grooves of scar tissue. Criss-crosses and lattice marks scarred him from top to bottom.
He stirred as I pulled the sheet off his hips.
I choked on more tears as I focused on the taut muscles of his ass and the sharp lines embedded there.
A lightning bolt of absolute hate shot through me.
Victor.
Fuck, I wanted to murder him all over again.
Rolling onto his side, Henri stiffened as he noticed my tears.
For a second, his grey gaze flared with hunger. I waited for him to drink those tears. To pounce on me like he always had. But then he pinched the bridge of his nose, grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and held it out to me. “If you’re crying because of the state of my back, don’t. It doesn’t hurt. I’m okay.”
Taking the tissue, I blew my nose and forced a smile. “I didn’t realise how deep the scar tissue went. You always wear a t-shirt to bed.”
“To prevent you from seeing it.” Shuffling upright, he rested against the pillows. “I didn’t want it to turn you off.”
“Turn me off ?” My mouth hung open. “Henri…how could you think—”
Someone’s fist pounded on the door, cutting me off.
He scowled and dropped his stare to my nakedness. “Just a sec!”
Launching out of bed, he shrugged into a t-shirt and black pyjama bottoms, then threw me a spare grey shirt from the freshly laundered pile. “Here.”
Slipping out of bed, I yanked it on just as he went to open the door.
Q stood on the threshold. Freshly showered, his dark suit immaculately tailored. He smiled at Henri, then stiffened as his gaze fell on my bare thigh.
His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared.
I looked down at my leg then slapped a hand over the blue H scribed into my skin. Henri followed his brother’s stare, wincing at the memories of that day. The sapphire dust he’d rubbed into a fresh cut. Blue mingling with red.
A visceral punch of hot desire cut right through my middle.
I’d been out of my mind with lust.
I’d come so hard I’d—
I blushed.
Q sniffed and backed away. “I won’t ask. None of my business.”
“Agreed. None of your business.” Henri stepped in front of me, crossing his arms. “Why the early morning visit?”
Looking down the corridor, he narrowed his eyes as Tess appeared. Scratching his five o’clock shadow, he shifted uncomfortably. “Eh…”
I frowned and moved to Henri’s side. I’d not known his brother long but seeing him tongue-tied didn’t fit with his usual rather snappy, prickly personality. “Everything okay?”
Tess came toward us, a charcoal woollen dress framing her curves. “We just got a call. From the hospital.”
Q glanced at her and paced away to look out the window. “You tell them. I feel like I keep fucking everything up.”
“Tell us what?” Henri asked, a trace of suspicion in his cool tone.
Catching my stare, Tess winced. “Well…you know how we had some jewels healing here but the worst cases—the ones too damaged—” She flung her arms up. “Dammit, I can’t. Just…we need to show you something.”
Henri flicked me a look. “The last time Q showed me something, I found out Ily hadn’t died…only to watch her die a few weeks later.”
“Yes well, we promise no one is going to die this time.” Tess grinned with a guilty shrug. “We hope.”
“Meet us downstairs. There’s a car waiting.” Q stalked away. Snatching Tess’s wrist, he dragged her with him.
Closing the door, Henri scowled. “Any idea what’s got up his ass?”
“Nope.” I flung myself into his arms and kissed him. “But he’s not patient so I suggest we go find out.”
* * * * *
My nose wrinkled at the scents of bleach and dying.
I’d always hated hospitals.
Despite being found at one and my father working in one every day, I’d never been able to get over the stench or the energy of the place. The energy of hope and loss, fear and prayer.
Henri held my hand as we followed Tess and Q.
We’d flown here.
By a private helicopter.
I knew Henri’s brother was loaded but until that moment when he shoved us into a helicopter with a sparrow logo on its tail and threw a headset at us, I hadn’t truly understood.
France had unravelled like a children’s story book as we flew to the roof of a hospital only to land and be immediately greeted by a doctor in a blinding white coat.
That doctor led our procession.
He hadn’t said a word, just nodded at Q and started walking.
Nerves popped in my stomach the longer we walked through a labyrinth of white, stark corridors. Nurses raised an eyebrow as we cut through their station then turned left and continued all the way to the end.
There, the doctor rested his hand on the doorknob and gave us a look. “I must apologise for the mix-up. We should’ve tried harder to confirm identities despite the patient being uncommunicative until this time. I’m not sure how such paperwork wasn’t thoroughly—”
“Just open the door,” Q barked. Stepping aside, he arched his chin at Tess to join him and added, “You two go in. We’ll stay out here.”
Nerves exploded into full-blown panic. “What’s going on?”
The doctor twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. “I think it’s best if you see for yourself, and then…we can chat.”
Sharing a worried look with me, Henri tugged me forward and we stepped into the hospital room.
Winter sunlight spilled inside, bouncing off pale green curtains wrapped around the bed at the end. Our boots squeaked on the linoleum as we made our way to the window.
Brushing aside the curtain, I made eye contact with the person sitting up in bed. An arm in a sling, and love in his gaze.
For a second, every part of my nervous system stopped working.
I couldn’t think or blink or speak.
I just stared.
At a ghost.
At a soulmate who’d died.
A man who’d shielded me with his own life.
My fingers flew to the medallion-shaped scar on my sternum. Tears flowed quick and silent down my cheeks. I staggered forward. Henri almost fell over.
“I-Is this real?” I couldn’t trust my eyes until I touched him.
Until I knew for sure…
Hesitantly, fearfully, I stopped by the bedside and cupped the cheek of someone I never thought I’d see again.
His hand came up and covered mine.
His soft brown eyes gleamed with vitality and violent joy.
And then he tugged me closer and wrapped me in the biggest one-armed hug.
“Hi, jaanu …”
His voice.
His heat.
Oh God.
With a cry, I flung my arms around him. I buried myself into his neck. He smelled all wrong and still felt far too thin, but he was real. Real . “My God, Paavak…” Commonsense tried to tell me this wasn’t happening. That I’d tripped and whacked my head.
This couldn’t be real.
Could it?
Could he truly be hugging me? Holding me?
“It’s okay, Ily.” Peter kissed my hair. “Hey, no need to cry. I’m okay. See? I’m right here.”
I clung to him. I practically crawled on top of him.
He chuckled as I sobbed against his throat. “Hey, that’s ticklish without my collar.” He flinched away, his laughter so much lighter than any I’d heard on Victor’s island. Anytime he’d laughed back then, it’d been heavy with scorn and unsaid things.
Now it twinkled in the sunlight like fireflies.
I pulled away.
I met his eyes.
I stopped crying and truly saw. “It’s really you.”
“Told you.” He grinned. “Not dead. I didn’t turn into a vampire or sell my soul for another chance. I’m just me. Just a guy who’s scarred and skinny…a slave who escaped.”
I winced at his attempt at a joke.
“Way too soon for that sort of humour, Paavak.” Henri wiped his mouth and shook his head. “I…I’m having a really hard time seeing you alive when I saw you with my own fucking eyes. You were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” Peter smirked. “You told me I couldn’t die, remember? Back in the kitchens? You gave me explicit orders not to give up, so…I didn’t.”
Henri shifted to the other side of the bed, his steps uneven. He towered over both of us as I wiped my tears with my jumper’s sleeve.
Poking Peter in the shoulder, Henri breathed, “H-How?” His voice cracked. “I know what I saw that night. Your lips were blue. You didn’t move. All the jewels saw you die.”
Sitting higher in bed, Peter didn’t wince with pain or show any sign of death. Shadows smudged beneath his eyes and a beard framed his lips, but he didn’t look anywhere close to dying. “Apparently, I’m hard to kill. I mean, I had good training from all the other times Victor tried. I guess I’ve gotten rather good at coming back from some pretty nasty shit.” He shrugged and looked down at his body. A flower-dotted hospital gown covered him, and he winced when he moved his slung arm, but his skin glowed a rich dark tan. “And I’m not even high! Well, I’m on a few painkillers, but I haven’t needed to self-medicate. Being free is the best drug in the whole damn world.”
He glanced at me then Henri. He laughed again. “You two should see your faces.”
Henri shot me a look, his eyes suspiciously wet.
My tears faded as bubbly laughter escaped. “You certainly sound like you. Just as mad as usual.”
“Mad?” He grabbed his chest with fake hurt. “And here I was excited to see you.” He reached for my hand and squeezed me so damn hard. “I thought you’d died on me, jaanu. I’ve been going out of my mind ever since I remembered.”
“Remembered?”
“Ah, yes. I might have had a touch of amnesia.” He shrugged with another smirk. “Nothing major. I’m too stubborn to forget for long.”
“You’re definitely stubborn.” Henri kept staring at Peter. If I didn’t know him, I’d say he had mixed feelings about Peter coming back from the dead, but I did know him. And I saw how much he struggled to stay composed. How much he fought the same crippling gratefulness threatening to send me into a faint.
Peter’s smirk slipped a little as he caught Henri’s gaze. Solemnity swirled between the two men as Peter held out his left hand, his right tucked tight in its sling. “I owe you a thank you, Ri.”
“Ri?” Henri shuddered, ignoring Peter’s outstretched palm. “You know I had a dream—might’ve been a hallucination, doesn’t matter—where all of us shared breakfast in the sun. You called me Ri.”
“Is that a problem?” Peter scowled.
Henri shrugged as if he couldn’t catch his bearings. “No…no problem at all.”
I backed up a little, seeing the cracks in my twin flame.
He was failing. Falling.
Three…
Two—
With a guttural growl, Henri bent and snatched Peter in a savage hug.
Peter squeaked, his back bending as Henri smothered him.
I smiled and felt so much love I almost burst into a million pieces.
Peter’s gaze met mine over Henri’s shoulder. He rolled his eyes then closed them, returning Henri’s far too vicious hug with one arm.
It took an age for Henri to pull away.
When he did, he had more composure. Raking both hands through his hair, he cleared his throat and shrugged. “So…you gonna tell us how you did it? Why I’ve been mourning you like a stupid sap? Why I’ve had so many sleepless nights thinking my only friend had died?”
“Aw, I’m your friend, Ri?” Peter snickered. “I’m touched.”
“I’ll punch you if you’re not careful.”
“Ily would punch you right back on my behalf.” Peter winked at me. “Wouldn’t you, jaanu ?”
“Hey.” I flung up my hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m not getting in the middle of this.”
“And after all the times I shared my blanket with you in the dungeon.” Peter sniffed dramatically. “Rude.”
All of us chuckled.
My heart flew to the ceiling and bounced like a helium balloon.
“You’ve got to give me some details, Paavak,” Henri muttered. “I need to know how this is possible.”
“Jesus, alright. Rushing my hello. You always were impatient.” Smiling at Henri, he added. “You want the quick story or the one that the docs tried to tell me full of medical jargon, long winded words, and lots of technical stuff?”
“Simple. Short. Concise.” Henri crossed his arms. “And go.”
Peter laughed under his breath. “Fine. The short version. Well, according to the docs, the bullet went through my right shoulder blade and out my chest. It made quite a mess and nicked my lung.” He chuckled as if it was funny. “I suffocated, fancy that. I’ve envisioned my death a million times, but I never thought I’d go that way.”
Henri scowled. “I’m not sure how I feel about you having a sense of humour about this.”
Peter smirked. “You try being a prisoner for five and a half years only to die and somehow not die.” He tilted his head back with a heavy exhale. “Anywho, I woke up here. In paradise.” He pointed at the window. “The sun is shining, and I haven’t been called to serve. People bring me food. I’ve been able to watch shitty TV for the first time in half a decade. Life is good. Great, even.”
Henri shook his head, his temper fading beneath Peter’s radiant joy. “You know what, Pete. Life is good.” He cast me a look, his gaze welling with blazing affection. “So fucking good.”
My heart danced as a wash of unbearable gratefulness fizzled in my blood. I wanted to cry and fly and bury myself in both these men’s arms and live happily ever after.
Despite all the emotions clanging inside me, I had no words.
None.
All I could do was stare and stare and stare.
I stepped closer and stroked his cheek again.
He smiled and wrapped his fingers around my wrist. “It’s okay, Ily. I’m real. I’m not a ghost.”
Fresh tears wobbled on my eyelashes. “Y-You took a bullet for me.”
“Cool, huh?” He pulled my hand away from his face and kissed my palm. “Pretty heroic if I do say so myself.” He threw a beaming grin at Henri. “Always told you I was the good guy in all of this.”
“I’d say you earned that title fair and square.” Henri chuckled. “I’ll wear the title of bad guy happily.” He sighed. “I honestly don’t know how to thank you, Paavak. Truly. I’m…I’m fucking speechless at what you did.”
“You would’ve done the same thing.”
“I would’ve.” Henri nodded. “For you too.”
The moment stretched, all of us struck with the aching truth that we were bonded in ways that transcended ordinary friendship. We’d seen each other at our worst, our most pained, our most broken, miserable, and terrified.
We’d been treated as toys, barely seen as human, yet we’d survived.
Together.
Because of each other.
Rolling his shoulders back as if shedding the stress from the past, Henri said, “So…you came back from the dead. You got shot and survived. I’m beginning to think you were a cat in another life.”
Peter chuckled. “If that’s true, I’m pretty sure I used up nine lives surviving Joyero.” Shifting higher up his pillows, he raked his eyes over Henri. “Speaking of lives…are you alright, Ri?” He cocked his head. “You know…I’m the one who’s just come out of some stupid coma, yet you look like you’ve been in that dungeon until yesterday. What’s up with that?” His brown eyes flickered to mine. “Ily? What did I miss?”
I smiled and sat on the side of his bed. “Let’s just say…Henri’s been a little busy .”
“Oh?” Peter quirked an eyebrow. “Doing what?”
Henri scowled. “Doesn’t matter—”
“Oh, it matters.” Peter scowled back. “No secrets between us. Spit it out. What happened?”
Glancing at the door, Henri lowered his voice. “I might have thought Ily was dead.”
“You what?” Peter gasped. “Why?”
I rolled my shoulders. “My heart might’ve stopped—”
“ What !?”
“Only for like a few minutes—”
“It was longer than that. Or at least it felt like a fucking eternity.” Henri raked a hand over his face. “Seeing her die, Pete? Hearing her flatline? I…kinda went a little mad. I went on a little hunt. If you know what I mean.”
“Oh, shit.” Peter stiffened. “You went full Rambo on their asses?”
Henri snickered. “Rambo? Nah…I just paid a few men a visit that’s all.”
Peter touched his nose with a conspiratorial wink. “Right. A visit .”
Henri laughed. “A visit that they won’t forget.”
Peter puffed up with pride. “How many did you…visit?”
“Don’t know.” Henri glanced at the door again. “I wasn’t fully functioning. It’s all a bit of a blur—”
“Thirty-four,” I whispered.
Both men glared at me.
“Thirty-four?” Peter choked.
Henri frowned. “Was it? That’s not as many as I hoped.”
“Not that many?” I shook my head. “Henri, that’s…you saved so many people.”
“But there’s so many still out there.”
“Yes but—”
“You can keep going,” Peter muttered under his breath. “We could exterminate all of them.”
Henri’s grey gaze sparked. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Whoa, wait a minute.” I jumped in. “You’re barely out of bandages, and Paavak’s still in them. Let’s focus on living before we talk about dying again, shall we?”
Henri gave Peter a look. Peter returned it.
Laughing softly, Peter rested against his pillows. “Turns out everything fell apart without me, huh?”
Henri burst out laughing. “Yeah, you could say that.”
Leaning over him, I kissed Peter on the cheek. “Are you going to finish your story? You got shot in the shoulder and lung. You suffocated. That doesn’t explain how you’re here.”
Taking my hand again, he shrugged. “I don’t really know the full tale. From what the doctors said—doctors on your brother’s payroll, Ri—they said that the response team who joined the fight on Joyero stabilised me. They said one of them stabbed me in the chest again—glad I didn’t feel that—and released the pressure. I had a pneumothorax I think it’s called. The bleeding came from the bullet tearing through my muscle and shoulder blade.” He sighed and rolled his slung arm. “I’ll admit it hurts like a bitch. It’ll take time to use that arm again, but they sewed me up and fixed me. I remember the sensation of not being able to move when I landed on you, Ily. I was shit terrified that the bullet had torn through my spine, but it didn’t. I’m all good. I guess it was just shock that shut me down. Obviously, the doctors have their many rules so I heal properly. They’ve given me a bunch of precautions and other medical nonsense on rehab and how lucky I was, but…I’m here. I’m alive. And that’s all that matters.” He sighed. “I’m just incredibly grateful. It could’ve gone the other way so easily, so yeah…I’m just thankful.”
“And you’ve been awake this whole time?” Henri asked quietly. “Why didn’t you tell them who you were? Why have you waited weeks—”
“I wasn’t awake.” He shook his head. “I told you. I’ve been in some stupid coma—waste of bloody time that was. I only came to a few days ago, and it took a while for my memories to come back. Like I said, I was amnesic for a bit. Completely lost and had no idea where I was. But then things started coming back in pieces. And then this morning I woke and remembered everything. I asked for you. I used your last name, Henri. You should’ve seen how fast they bolted and now…here you are.”
Peter sniffed. “Anyway, I’ve gone on far too much about me. What about the others? Is Rach okay? Mollie? Did Kirk survive? Is Victor dead? Are you okay? Why the fuck did your heart stop, jaanu ? Was I too late in protecting you?” Squeezing my fingers, he looked me over as if assessing every inch. Still protective of me. Responsible for me. “The last I saw of you, you were dying beneath me. So much blood. That thing I tied around your neck did nothing. I truly thought…”
I squeezed him right back. Pulling down my lemon-coloured jumper, I revealed the small mark on my sternum. “You saved my life, Paavak. Truly. I passed out from blood loss but thanks to my collar, Victor wasn’t able to cut my jugular. I’d been feeling woozy for a while. If you hadn’t spun me around, I would’ve died. I don’t…” Tears prickled. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you. I feel absolutely awful that we didn’t know you were here. That we didn’t try to find you.”
“Yeah well, you thought I was dead,” Peter whispered. “It’s okay, Ily. I’d do it all over again if needed. You know that…right?”
“I know.”
“In answer to your questions,” Henri said. “Mollie unfortunately died, Kirk didn’t make it, and my brother has been keeping a list of the jewels he’s sent home. Rachel is okay and about to pop. She’s living in Spain with her uncle.” Clearing his throat, he rolled his shoulders. “None of that would’ve been possible without you. You’re the reason I didn’t die because you didn’t let Ily die. And for that…I owe you every euro that doesn’t belong to me. How can I ever repay you for protecting her?”
“You already said you’d take a bullet for me too. That’s what friends do.” Peter smirked although a small flash of pain sparked in his eyes. “I love her. And she loves you. What was I supposed to do? Let her be shot?”
“She loves you too.” Henri braced his shoulders. “And after what you’ve done? Fuck.” Grabbing Peter’s shoulder again, he cleared his throat. “You’re not just a good friend, Paavak. You’re a brother.”
Peter actually blushed. “Yeah well, after a month of sharing that dungeon with you all broken and pathetic, I kinda started to like you.”
Henri snickered. “You just liked being the one not bleeding for a change.”
Peter laughed. “Was it that obvious?” His fingers strayed to his neck. “By the way, who…who cut my collar and cuffs off?”
“Not sure. My brother said he’d removed all the jewels he had in his house. And he mentioned some had to go to the hospital as their injuries exceeded his in-house care, but…I asked him if he knew where you were. He said he didn’t. No one knew.” His sterling gaze snapped to mine before returning to Peter. “You have to believe us, Pete, we would’ve searched high and low for you if we thought you’d survived.”
“It’s fine.” Peter rolled his wrists, no doubt marvelling that the cuffs that’d imprisoned him for five and a half years were gone. A hospital band had replaced them. “Even the doctors didn’t know. I’ve been called John Doe before I remembered my name this morning. They’ve had their hands full by the sounds of it. Everything was crazy that night. I…I’d like to hear what happened, though. How I ended up here. Victor better have got the end he deserved. I’m pissed off I didn’t get to kill him myself.” Tapping his forehead with the heel of his hand, he exhaled. “Holy shit, I need to call my parents!” His eyes widened. “I’m so used to not thinking about them. Fuck, someone get me a phone.”
I froze.
Fresh panic filled me.
Oh no.
Henri shot me a look. “Ily…are you okay?”
Licking my lips, I struggled to speak.
Peter raised his eyebrows. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Um….” Plucking the blankets on Peter’s bed, I couldn’t hold his stare. “I might have…oh God.”
“What?” Peter sat up straight. “You’re scaring me.” His IV line travelled with his hand as he reached for me. “What is it? What the hell happened?”
Henri came to my side of the bed. He looped his arm around my shoulders. “Ily?”
I blurted, “I went to see your parents and told them what you did for me. I told them everything, Paavak. They wanted to know. They asked so many questions. I told them how you were the protector to all of us. How you gave hope to the hopeless and that you gave your life for me.”
No one moved.
“You…went to see my family?” Peter asked quietly.
I didn’t know if he was pissed or pleased.
“I thought you were dead.” I hung my head. “I looked up your family name. An old date came up for a memorial service they held for you. I wish I hadn’t done it. I’m so stupid. I thought I was giving them closure. Not knowing what happened was awful, Paavak. Not knowing if you were truly dead. Where you were buried. What became of you. I didn’t want your parents to have to keep living with that.”
“So you told them that I’ve been raped and beaten for the last five years?” he murmured, his face blank.
“No! No. I mean….not in so many words.”
“What words?”
I couldn’t get a read on him. Didn’t know how angry he was. “I merely told them that we’d been prisoners on an island. That we lived in a palatial castle. That we were made to play in certain games and that…we all looked out for each other. I…I didn’t go into specifics. They don’t know what they did to you. They just know how strong you were. How brave. They’re incredibly proud of you. Your mother showed me your baby album. It gave them peace to talk about you, but now… God now ?” I burst into tears. “They’re going to probably have a heart attack when you walk through the door.”
A smile quirked his lips then a soft chuckle escaped. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“You’re laughing about this?”
“No, I’m imagining being the prodigal son who finally returns home.” Grinning at Henri, he pressed a button on a remote resting on the sheets. “New plan. I’m not going to call them. I’m going to see them.”
“Wait, what?” Henri frowned. “But you just said the doctors have a strict plan for your rehab.”
“Meh, I’m not gonna die just because I can’t use my arm. I’ll deal with that later. For now…I want to come back from the dead for my parents.”
“How about you wait a few days and—”
A nurse appeared. “You called, Mr Chauhan?”
“Yeah, I need to leave.”
“ Leave ?”
Grabbing me in a fierce hug as the nurse looked at him as if he was crazy, he whispered into my ear. “You told us we’d make it out, jaanu . I had my moments of doubt but…you did it.”
“ We did it.”
“Thank you for making me hope.” He kissed my cheek. “I love you. I’ll come find you when I’m a bit stronger, and we’ll catch up properly, okay?”
Letting me go, he passed me back to Henri and held out his hand. “Master H.”
Henri’s face went black as he accepted the handshake. “Don’t even joke—”
Peter laughed. “Can you do me a favour and get your billionaire brother to summon a plane for me? I think it’s time I go home.”