This world is cruel and dark and lonely. Drew is a shining light. It’s not a difficult choice. Perhaps a selfish one. But why should I care for a world that has never cared for me?
Katy runs in all breathless behind me and hope flares to life. Has she found it? I turn to face her. She points at her smartwatch.
“The bell at the front gate,” she explains. “They are here.”
I flow to my feet. “Keep looking, I will talk to them. Buy us more time.”
She nods and turns frantically away.
I hurry outside.
It’s only when I’m more than halfway down the driveway that I remember I’m wearing a dress. The red one Drew liked most out of all the things I tried on. The dress I was wearing when he spun me around the ballroom.
Was that really only yesterday? It feels like a lifetime ago.
The gravel crunches as I quicken my pace. I have much bigger problems than giving a fuck about people’s reactions to my fashion choices.
I stomp down the driveway and stop a few feet from the gate. One black car and a man I don’t know.
“Where is Count Felford?” I demand sternly.
The stranger cocks his head towards the car. The windows are tinted and I can’t see a thing. My heart is pounding, but I cannot let it distract me.
The man’s gaze rakes over me, taking in my dress and probably my shimmery tights. I think my hair is still in bunches, though very disheveled ones by now.
“If Felford is not alive, we have nothing to discuss!” I snap.
The man grins. The car door opens. Gregory climbs out. He turns around and drags someone out. Someone in crumpled clothes with their hands cuffed behind their back. Someone with blood all over their face and down their front. Someone with eyes swollen shut and a head that lolls like a ragdoll.
I suck in a breath.
My Drew.
Rage coils within me. I wish I was a mage. I’d flay Gregory alive. How could he do this to someone who was once his friend?
But Gregory isn’t even looking at me. He is too busy trying to hold Drew up.
“So, I bet you can guess what the deal is?” drawls the stranger.
I nod. “Open the portal or you will kill him.”
The stranger grins. “Close. Open the portal or we won’t kill him. We will keep him alive for a very, very long time. In a state worse than this.”
It feels like something is clawing at my heart. Digging in and shredding it to pieces. My poor, sweet, kind Drew. He doesn’t deserve this. It’s not his fault he was tricked into marrying a Revivalist and caught up in all my mess.
If I had any doubts before, they are gone now. Ground to dust by the sight of Drew’s broken body.
I nod sharply and turn on my heels. The gravel crunches. Leaving Drew with those monsters feels so wrong. But I’m no match for them. This is the only way I can help him.
A loud wolf whistle cuts through the air, and my shoulders hunch. Mocking laughter rings out, and it feels like it is chasing me.
Assholes. For fuck’s sake. Why did I have to show any reaction at all? I wish I hadn’t flinched. I wish I was strong enough to hold my head up high and ignore them. Damn them. Damn them to hell.
As I reach the front steps of the house, Katy runs down them. A gleam of silver in her hands. I snatch it from her. The power flares and soothes my heart.
“Where did you find it?” I ask. Not that it matters.
“Under his bed,” she wheezes.
That’s almost funny. If only there was time to laugh.
I stride towards the shrine. Katy hurries after me.
“Where are you going? I thought the plan was to give them the dagger?”
I grind my teeth and quicken my strides. “The plan has changed.”
I reach the walled garden. Katy gasps. She has figured it out.
“No, Luci! You can’t! Drew wouldn’t want you to!”
I heave the hidden door open and step through. Katy chases after me. Her blue eyes are wild and frantic.
“I can’t let you!” she says.
I lift the dagger up high and snarl all my rage at her. “Don’t make me hurt you!”
All color drains from her face. She stumbles back. The look of terror and dread in her eyes is going to haunt me forever. As will many things about this day. But it will all be worth it in the end. Drew will be safe, alive, and able to put his arms around me and hold me.
