Chapter 11 #2
Her hair fell around her head like a halo on the ground, and I looked up to find her eyes closed, her expression wincing as she whimpered.
The sound went straight to my dick, and I ground against her, my hands moving towards the hem of her sweater to rip it off. I couldn’t stand the thought of anything coming between us, but then her hands landed on mine.
“Stop… please…” she whispered.
I tilted my head in confusion. Stop?
Didn’t she want this, too? Wasn’t the same need for my cock to be buried inside her running through her veins?
Wait… why did I think she’d want this, too? What had even planted that idea in my mind to begin with?
My teeth and nails shrank back and dulled, all my movements ceasing. I finally saw her clearly, the terror and pain written in her expression. The tears staining her cheeks.
“Oh, shit.” I backed up in horror, sitting on my heels as I surveyed my bounty, leaves sticking in her mussed hair as she began to sit up. The bounty I’d almost…
What the hell was wrong with me?
“I’m so sorry… I… I’m in a rut. And I know that’s not an excuse, and it’s no one’s responsibility but my own. I just… the suppressants don’t work against your scent for some reason. I was out of my mind.”
She nodded slowly, drawing her knees to her chest. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m used to it.”
The words were like a bullet to my heart. Used to it? Who was attacking her like this so often that she was used to it?
Oh, right.
“Victor sent you, then?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve been hired to bring you to him, and I’m afraid there’s no getting out of it. I’ve made a deal.”
She didn’t look at me, and I was almost glad. The thought of meeting her sad, defeated eyes filled me with immense shame. I didn’t think I could handle it.
She took in a shuddering breath, her somber surrender immediately curing me of my Ravaric-damned rut.
The thrill of finally having her in my grasp was gone.
I’d built her up in my mind to be a willing player in our game of cat and mouse, but I should have known I wasn’t going to find a sexy, consenting participant once I’d caught her.
I’d never thought of myself as a monster before, but this case was bringing out a side of me I didn’t like, forcing me to face some hard truths about the nature of my work I’d happily ignored as long as the numbers in my bank account went up.
Demons are so like their creator.
“Did he tell you why?” she asked.
I shook my head. “He told me you stole something, but wouldn’t give me any information beyond that.”
Her gaze finally met mine, the sadness giving way to anger. “And that was enough for you? You could sell your soul based on that one accusation?”
I had no words to defend myself, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Can I at least know what your soul is worth?”
I mumbled under my breath, averting my gaze.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you?”
“Ten million,” I said louder, and she barked out a cold, mirthless laugh.
“Well, I suppose that’s plenty. I’m sure you’ve sold it for less.”
Ouch. But true.
“I’m assuming we need to go, then?”
Where was that hit of dopamine I always got once my bounty was in hand? The familiar tingle was absent, and in its place was merely regret and dread.
“Yeah, I have a little over a day to get you back to Noctis.” I got up and offered her my hand, not surprised but still hurt she didn’t take it, getting up on her own and brushing the dirt off her clothes. She groaned as she noticed a large tear in her cardigan, and shrugged it off.
I gasped in horror at the scars covering her skin, unbidden and plain as day. Each arm was marred by several deep bite marks, the one on her right bicep so deep the attacker had taken flesh, and her wrists each had one, long gash running up the vein.
“Fucking Ravaric. What happened to you? Was… was this Victor?”
Was this what everyone had been trying to tell me? To warn me about? Did more of this await Sage once I returned her to him?
“No,” she replied. “Most of his scars aren’t physical.” Then she smiled at me darkly. “So don’t worry, you won’t have to feel too guilty while you’re swimming in millions.”
Her ire, her hatred, her vitriol… I deserved all of it. But I still couldn’t find it in me to sacrifice my life and let her go. My sense of self-preservation was too strong to be noble enough to spare this woman her fate.
I led her back to my car, our walk through the woods uncomfortably silent. “Do you want to grab anything from the cabin?” I finally asked. I was trying to be accommodating, at least.
She laughed again. “What would be the point? He’s not going to let me keep anything.”
“You have a cat, though…”
Her eyes began to glisten. “He’ll have a better life with Selene, where he’s not cooped up. Um…” Her voice wavered, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is she okay? And Morgana? Did you… hurt them?”
Fuck. Of course she thought I was the kind of monster who’d heartlessly mow down those in my way. Why would I have given her any indication to believe otherwise?
“They’re fine, really. Morgana and the crow might be a little groggy, but I didn’t—”
“His name’s Vesper.”
I cringed, taking note of the bitter tone to her voice. A witch without a familiar… must have been a sensitive topic.
“I didn’t know his name. Vesper, then. You don’t have to worry.”
With a deep sigh, she dabbed her eyes and kept going, and I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that none of this was right. That I was making a horrible mistake.
I paused, holding out my arm to stop her from moving as well. “What did he do to you? Everyone I’ve met so far on this case only vaguely references what you’ve been through, and I just want to know.”
She bit her lip, playing with the small pendant on the necklace she was wearing, while I swallowed the nervous lump forming in my throat.
I’d only known of her existence for a week, but somehow, she’d taken such deep root in my mind, it was making me feel like she’d been there all along.
As though she were a part of my soul I’d never recognized until this moment.
“Would it change anything? If I told you that as soon as I’m back in his clutches, the rest of my days will be filled with endless torment and pain that I’d done nothing to deserve, would you willingly let the deal run out?”
I…
I didn’t know. Saying yes was terrifying, and what made things even stranger was that I wasn’t even sure if it was the thought of death itself that frightened me as much as the thought of leaving her here on this mortal plane unprotected.
Because if I was alive, there was still a chance I could save her.
If she were telling the truth, that was.
My silence was her answer, and she stepped around my arm to keep walking.
I took a few quick steps to get ahead of her, since she didn’t know where she was going, and she sighed when we got in sight of my car.
“I’m sorry for slashing your tires, by the way.”
I frowned. “Wait, what? Why?”
It had been a smart move. A pain for me, obviously, but people had done and tried far worse once they knew I was on their trail.
“Because she’s a beaut.”
My heart caught in my chest.
She liked… my car?
I cut off the satisfied purr before it became too obvious and coughed. “Yeah, she’s… she’s alright.”