Chapter 17 Peter #2
“Isn’t it forbidden for you to be here?” Faye asked, closing the gap between them.
“I came to make sure he was locked up, that he couldn’t get to you. Again,” Peter said, staring down at Ian.
“Seeing him like this is so strange,” Faye said, following his gaze. She sounded numb. “He can’t move, protest, or scream. He’s completely trapped. I know the indescribable pain he’s in. Screaming, but no one can hear or help him. He deserves to know how it feels to be a prisoner.”
“He deserves much worse,” Peter muttered, hoping this night would bring her some peace.
“Yes, he does.” Faye smiled sadly at him.
He wished he could erase her pain, to say something to help ease it, but the sound of footsteps interrupted them. They wouldn’t be alone for long. He couldn’t let Faye be found here.
“You need to go. Give me the pliers and the fangs,” he ordered quietly.
If he was going to convince whoever was coming that this was his idea, he needed them.
“Head down the stairs at the end of the tunnel until you reach a gate. Twist the dial to 021692 to unlock it. You’ll come out by the lake.
Wait for me there, and don’t tell a soul you were here. ”
Faye hesitated before taking the fangs out of her jeans pocket and placing them in his hand. She looked up at him. “Why are you protecting me? I’m the one who did this.”
Without a second thought, he silenced her questions with a kiss.
Time stood still. For a moment, he cursed himself for losing control. Then heat raced down his spine as she kissed him back gently, like she was afraid of spooking him. It wasn’t his first kiss, but it was the only one that mattered.
Unable to resist, he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Her soft lips made him forget where they were and what was at stake if they were discovered. Peter slid his hands over her hips, and her quiet gasp snapped him back to reality.
He broke the kiss and forced himself to let her go. “Please go.”
Faye stared at him, wide-eyed, as though she couldn’t believe what had happened. If he’d had a heartbeat, it would’ve stopped.
She ran out of the cell as torchlight came down the passage. Whoever it was was taking their time inspecting the cells. Peter stared at Ian’s fangs in his hand, feeling overwhelmingly proud of Faye for having faced her attacker.
“Maybe I should end your suffering,” he said to Ian, putting the fangs and pliers in his pocket. “It would be a mercy for you – and Faye. I’ve a special place in Hell reserved for your soul. Or perhaps I’ll reincarnate you as a cockroach.”
Ian had heard their conversation. Imprisoned by the coven’s spell or not, he knew Faye had removed his fangs and could report her once his sentence was through.
No one would blame Faye, but breaking into the temple and torturing an already sentenced creature could result in her own banishment from Foxford.
Walking over to the wall, Peter removed one of the torches. He snapped off the wooden handle before letting the dust and dirt extinguish the flame as he dropped the metal casing.
It would be so easy, he thought, holding the broken stake over Ian’s chest.
“Grams warned me you might be here.” Benedict stood at the door, holding a torch. “I stupidly hoped you’d made the smarter decision and gone to be with Faye.”
“Leave, Benedict. I don’t want you to be a part of this.” Peter stared at Ian, ready to drive the stake through his heart. Screw the rules, his soul; this was his chance to save Faye. All he had to do was push down.
“Peter, please put down the stake. Death would be too merciful for him.”
Benedict stepped into the cell. Peter couldn’t make his brother an accomplice.
“If you do this, then he wins.”
“You and Lucy did what was right and sentenced him. Leave the rest to me. By the time it’s discovered what happened to him, will anyone care?
” Peter clenched his fist tightly around the stake, feeling the splinters pierce his skin.
He let it drop to his side, determined not to let a single drop of blood fall on Ian.
“Not about him, but about you,” Benedict said. The sorrow in his voice made Peter waver.
“Why did you have to come back here?” he asked, wishing his brother had gone home with Lucy and let things be.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist once you heard that Faye was hurt.”
“I felt her pain, her fear. He deserves to die,” Peter argued.
“I’m sorry you had to feel her pain. I know you care about her,” Benedict said, approaching him slowly, like he was some feral animal.
“What if it was Lucy hurting?” Peter demanded.
Benedict didn’t hesitate. “I would burn him alive.”
“Then why deny me the same satisfaction?”
“Because you’d stop me like I’m trying to stop you. You’d tell me that my desire for revenge would cost me everything and only increase the pain of those I care about,” Benedict said calmly.
Peter didn’t want his brother to be right, but in spite of the intense temptation, he knew he was. He handed Benedict the stake before he finished the job. Benedict’s expression softened, relieved.
“I should warn you that I pulled out his fangs,” Peter said smugly, holding them out. “I thought they’d make a nice gift for Faye.”
“Have you lost your mind? The coven handled it. If Gregory finds out you’re here, interfering with the living, we may never see you again!”
“I don’t need a lecture.” Peter put the fangs back in his pocket to return to Faye and closed the lid on the coffin, not wanting to look at Ian’s face a moment longer. He needed to leave before he changed his mind.
Benedict followed him out of the temple, never one to give up the chance to scold his younger brother. As if I didn’t already know this could cost me my soul.
“Stop walking away from me!” Benedict snapped, casting a ring of fire around Peter.
Peter sighed, staring out at the lake. He hoped Faye had found her way out.
“Do you want your soul to be destroyed? Do you want to leave us all behind, never to be reunited?” Benedict panted.
Peter turned. He’d never seen his brother so emotional. Marrying Lucy had helped him connect with his feelings, but right now, he wished Benedict would revert to the stoic sibling he used to be.
“Can you please remove the ring of fire? I’m not going anywhere.” He hated it when his brother was mad at him, but he needed Benedict to believe he was the one who had harmed Ian. Faye had been through enough; she didn’t need to be dragged before a coven tribunal.
“Not until you promise you won’t return to the temple once I’m gone.”
“I wasn’t going to—”
“Don’t bullshit me. You’re a Matherson, and it’s exactly what I would do in your shoes.”
“I swear on my soul that I won’t return to the temple.”
“From your actions tonight, your soul isn’t valuable to you,” Benedict countered.
Peter scowled at his brother, then made himself chuckle. “I swear on your soul I won’t return to the temple.”
Benedict pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Can you understand why I’m acting this way?
Why I want to protect you? I failed to protect you from yourself when we were younger, and I won’t make that mistake again!
” He extinguished the ring of fire, but the smell of burnt leaves and soil hung in the air.
“Ben, I’m already gone.” Peter hated that his brother blamed himself for his past actions.
But that had been a totally different situation.
Hadn’t it? Perhaps I never learned my lesson.
“When you leave this mortal world, you’ll be with your loved ones, our ancestors.
I’ll walk this earth, stuck, until I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be human, to love, or laugh.
I’ll be a mere shell, a vessel for death.
I’m already damned. What if saving Faye is my chance at redemption? ”
“Staying with us until we draw our last breath is saving us. Just being with us until the end, comforting us when our time comes, saves us. Even Faye – do you think saving her is your penance? Death comes for all of us,” Benedict pleaded.
“You couldn’t save our father; you couldn’t bring him back, and you couldn’t spare us from our loss the first time around.
Please don’t make us go through the grief of losing you again. ”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t make that promise,” Peter said, fearing his composure would crumble if he stood here a moment longer.
It took him entirely by surprise when Benedict shoved him into the lake.