Page 74 of Bitten & Burned

Forty

FINISHED

Kravenspire, Sol, Verdune

Even though he’d been caged in stone walls and enchanted iron chains beneath Halemont for the past two nights, Silas’s presence somehow leaked through just as it had when we first dragged him through the house, like it was staining the very air we breathed.

I could almost hear him even through the locked doors, spewing his poison, waiting for me in the dark.

I stepped down the stairs, moving slowly as I made my way down into the dungeon once again. The air was damp, which made my skin feel clammy and cold.

Quil and Dmitri both followed me, but they’d promised to hang back until I was done.

“I’ll be right here for you, Sweetheart,” Quil murmured.

“You can do this, Mishka,” Dmitri added.

Both pet names felt fitting in this moment. I was Quil’s Sweetheart, but I was also Dmitri’s Mishka. I was sweet until I wasn’t. Dangerous when I needed to be.

It smelled better than last time, since we'd gotten Rellin’s corpse out. Now it just smelled like old blood and mildew. Still terrible, but at least it wasn’t Rellin’s gangrene stench.

With every step I took forward, I wanted to run back to the safety above.

Run back to Vael’s arms.

To Anton’s.

To Cassian’s.

And they would accept me. They’d allow me to hide with them.

But I knew I had to face him. I had to do this. I had promised myself I would. Silas deserved justice.

And I deserved vengeance.

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.

I moved even closer, bent at the waist to look him in the eye. And then, I spit. Directly in his face.

He blinked as if I’d struck him.

“You little bitch—” He hissed, struggling against his chains. I simply straightened, folding my arms in front of me. “Kill me. Kill me now, I can’t bear to see what they’ve turned you into. Kill me and remember me always, you wretched, ungrateful girl.”

Quil’s voice was loud in my head: Killing someone is difficult. But…One on one? Hearing them talk to you? It’s so much harder. It stays with you forever.

Forever.

And that’s when I saw it.

It was finally apparent.

Now that my rage wasn’t so fresh in my mind, and I had him sitting here before me, it came to me clearly.

Silas wanted this.

He wanted me to kill him. Because then, he’d win. He’d get be on my mind, in my head, for the rest of my life.

If I did what I came down here to do, he’d have won. And I wasn’t going to let him win. Not now. He was going to die, yes.

But I wasn’t going to kill him.

I huffed out a laugh and began walking, turning my back on him.

“No,” I said simply.

“What?” he asked, sounding as if he either hadn’t heard me or didn’t want to.

“I said, ‘no’,” I replied. “I won’t kill you. I won’t give you that. In your blighted, broken little mind, you think that if I kill you, you’ll stay with me. You’ll win, even if you don’t get to have me. So no. I won’t kill you. I won’t even watch.”

He gaped at me, his mouth working around a possible retort, but I shook my head. I was done with him now. Ready to be done with him forever. I walked back to the door just as Quil opened it and held it for me.

“So what, Rowena, you’re just going to leave me here? I’ll find a way out. I’ll find a way to escape, and I’ll rescue you. I’ll save you from this nightmare.”

I glared at him before turning to Quil. “He’s yours. I don’t care what you do with him. Just get rid of him. I don’t want to know.”

Quil searched my eyes and nodded, his shoulders relaxing a bit. His eyes were dark and searching, but his nod was simply tacit understanding.

“What?” Silas yelled. “What?”

He was flailing, trying to yank his arms free from the chains. I reached out for Quil and ran my fingers down his cheek, pausing on his jaw before I let him hold the door open for me.

“I’ll be back up when I’m finished,” Quil said solemnly. “Shouldn’t be long. Unless I take a page from Anton’s book. Which I may…” He turned towards Silas with dead eyes that saw only one thing.

I nodded, leaned over, and kissed him, no heat, just warmth, and maybe a bit of acceptance. Recognition of our bond.

I reached for Dmitri’s hand, and together we started up the stairs.

“You don’t think I’m a coward…for not doing it myself?” My voice was thin, almost breaking.

His grip tightened, solid and steady. “Of course not, Mishka. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known.”

The door didn’t shut fully behind me, so I could somewhat hear as I went.

Our boots echoed on the stairs.

Beneath the noise, the scrape of a chair as Quil dragged it across the room. It bumped on the stone floor before it stopped.

The creak of the wood as he sat in it.

The low murmur of his voice.

I couldn’t make out what he said, but whatever it was, it had Silas yanking on his chains again.

“Rowena! Rowena! Please come back! Don’t do this. Don’t leave me here with one of your monsters! Rowena!” he called, his voice echoing in the dark.

We had reached the top of the stairs. Dmitri opened the door, and I stepped back into the corridor. He followed, letting it close behind us, muffling Drummond’s cries once and for all.

I took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing, letting my heart beat slowly in my chest. I could feel Quil in the bond. He was steady. Sure. Not panicking at all.

Good.

I had an idea of what he’d do. But nothing definite. I’d seen him dispatch threats. He was quick. Ruthless. Thorough.

I nodded once. Let Silas remember me like this, steady and untouchable, in the moments before the dark took him.

Because that’s all he’d see before Quil struck.

Darkness.

And then, nothing.

I carried on, closing that door forever.