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A blow doubled over my stomach. My legs could no longer hold me up, and I fell to the ground, more laughter escaping as my bare ass struck the ground, dropping into the pool of liquor and glass.

This time, I saw fists coming at my face and stomach, the boots kicking into my sides, but I couldn’t feel anything.

Finally, I felt no pain.

“You better find me another six hundred thousand forint for all this. By tonight. If not…” The woman’s face hovered over mine. “Normally I would have you dissected into parts and fed to my hogs, but with you…” She sneered. “I have better use for you.” She glanced from my face to my exposed cock, still semi-hard. “You would make me a very nice profit.”

Her blue eyes were the last thing I saw as her bodyguards chucked me out, my pants still around my ankles.

Chapter 5

Scarlet

The constant knots in my stomach and the tension riding my muscles only grew with each hour that passed without Ash’s return.

Still wrapped in a towel, my hair drying down my back, I paced the small room, tugging at the goblin metal circling my wrist, rubbing the skin raw.

He was supposed to go get clothes and come right back.

Four hours ago.

My intuition was always something I trusted. I had it fine-tuned with all the fake smiles and bullshit in my life I had to see through. A person can come across as sweet and sincere to those who don’t look past the first layer. I had seen the kindest smiles attached to the cruelest of intentions.

Something felt off with his absence. Not that I knew him. At all. Yet the moment our eyes met two nights ago, I felt this strange connection. Like I understood him. The pain and grief he tried to hide, the sense he was lost.

Alone.

I understood it. You could be in a room filled with people who loved you and still feel absolutely alone.

Grief, guilt, regret, and fear were isolating. They detached you from others, especially when you had very few people you could trust. And those I did, I couldn’t turn to. Not now. I couldn’t put them in a bad position because of what I did.

Another death weighed on my soul now. Grief squeezed my lashes together. A sob vibrated in the back of my throat as I recalled the bullet going into Reid’s head at the bar. His life vanished in a second. I couldn’t stop thinking about his family. What they must be going through. He was such a good guy. The best. And he was dead because of me. And Eve… I had just left her there to die.

I came to Vienna to start anew, to get away from the heartache and loss from what I had done. Now I realized it all followed me here. And I deserved it.

Twisting my ring around my finger, I fought against the natural urge to contact my family, especially my brother. But Icouldn’t. It was too dangerous.

Huffing in aggravation, I rubbed at my face. So many would be aghast if they knew the pretty picture they saw on the outside, so put together and charming, didn’t make you any less of a disaster on the inside.

“Fuck it.” I reached for the slip of sweater I still had, the need to go out and track Ash scratching at every muscle.

Covering myself as much as I could with no underwear or bra, both items far too dirty and burned up to wear again, I used the strip of sweater dress as an ultra mini skirt. Wrapping his jacket around me, I crammed my feet back into my painful heeled boots and ran out the door.

Clouds had moved in, covering the sun, the midday light already heading for the horizon, forcing me to pull the jacket tighter to me. The streets were quieter than the morning hustle, the shop owners waiting for the next arrival of trains.

Skirting through the lane, enough eyes fell on me, and I hurried quicker, pulling Ash’s hood up higher.

I poked into bars and shops, but Ash was nowhere to be found. My stomach twisted into a ball, fear pumping my heart faster.

What if he left me? What if something happened to him? What if they killed him?Calm down.I ordered myself, taking in the lessons I learned about stopping my panic from taking charge. Controlling my emotions. Breathing in and out, I closed my eyes, inhaling a deep breath. The bracelet cut off a lot of my magic, but my senses were still excellent.

Taking another deep breath, I sucked in, searching for his scent, tasting it on my tongue. When I caught a whiff, my lids bolted open, and I moved to it. Heading to the far end of the street, it grew stronger and stronger, pulling me around a building into a back alley.

“Holy shit!” I jerked, seeing the back of his blond head, his body lumped next to some dumpsters. “Ash!” My heels clicked the cement as I ran to him, shock and terror shrilling my voice.

“Ash?” I shook him. “Please, Ash, wake up.”Please don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.

A pained moan came from him, letting me breathe out a gulp of air.