Page 240 of Bitten & Burned

And I deservedvengeance.

I reached the landing and hesitated before I pulled open the wooden door. It creaked, sticking in the frame, likely swollen from the dampness in the air. But it only stuck for a moment before I got it open again.

I stepped inside, my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I looked directly at him.

Silas was restrained against the wall opposite me. The stone floor felt like it hummed, like it carried the sound of his heartbeat, the feeling of the blood as it thrummed through his veins.

Or maybe that was my own heart, pounding as I slowly walked towards him.

My thigh throbbed, more from memory than anything else at this point. The amulet was long gone, and we’d found the stone he’d been using to control the sigil on his person. It was safely kept upstairs in Halemont’s vaults until we could safely destroy it. But the muscle memory alone was enough to make my breath catch.

He looked smug. Battered, yes. But still haughty even though there was a bruise on his eye and another across his cheek. It appeared Dmitri hadn’t exactly been careful with him when he carried him down here. But Silas was no worse for wear.

Yet.

“Come to watch me die, Dearheart?”

I didn’t respond. Wouldn’t give him that.

“Or perhaps to carry out my sentence yourself? Tell me, will your masters loosen the leash enough to allow you to do their dirty work for them, hmm?”

I blinked slowly, memorizing the way his face looked now. This was how I wanted to remember him. Not with his false sweetness while he was my professor. Nor with his bravado when he pretended to try to help me through a wound he himself had caused.

No. I wanted to remember him like this. Nasty, bleeding, and begging for his life in the only way he knew how.

With lies.

“Cat got your tongue, Rowena? Or will they not allow you to speak?”

I chuckled.

“Something funny? Did I guess too astutely?”

“No,” I said softly. “It’s just funny to me how you think the only way someone could garner favor with me is to control me. Just because that’s the only way you could.”

“They have you brainwashed; that’s their way, Rowena.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not. They don’t control me. They don’t harm me. They don’t trick me by cursing me with a sigil meant for cattle and livestock. Meant to cause pain. If you truly loved me, if you truly cared, it wouldn’t have occurred to you to do such a thing. But no. You don’t care about me. You only wanted to control me. And only you - they don’t want that from me.”

“Rowena…”

“No,” I said. “I’m speaking now, Silas. You’re vile. I trusted you. Looked up to you.And you? You could only think about me in ways unbefitting of a man in a position of power.But that’s part of it, wasn’t it? The power you had over me? You liked it. Liked knowing you could ruin me if you so chose.And finally, you couldn’t stand that I didn’t fall at your feet. But you know why I didn’t, why no one did. Because you are a weak man. You can’t garner affection on your own merit and charm, so you have to take it. Force it. Because deep down, you knew no one would ever love you unless they had no other choice.”

“You let them bite you and drink from you and touch you,” his voice cracked. “And you call it love. You’re the vile one. Whoring yourself to animals. You were always a contemptible, detestable girl. Too thin. Too verbose. Too pitiful. You couldn’t hold down a normal relationship then, and you can’t now. I was trying to save you.”

And there he was, the odious man I knew he was beneath the surface.

I laughed, shook my head, and moved closer. I had been right. And it had been stupidly simple to break him down to his bare parts.

“Save me from what?” I asked, my voice low.

“From yourself, Rowena,” he said, impassioned, as if he truly cared beyond what was in his trousers.

“From myself?” I repeated, moving closer.

“Yes. And it’s not too late. I know you’re in too deep. You can’t deny them. You kill me, and then save yourself. I will give that to you, Rowena. I’ll give you my life.”

There it was, the mask slipping back into place.