Page 42

SERAPHINA

I worked in the Red Wolf Pack for four years.

Because Ronan's obnoxious ancestors didn't like their previous guests having to mingle with the filthy servants, there were often separate hallways and passages to get through the manor. Shortcuts.

Spending a year away from the mansion didn't dull my memory of it, and all I needed was a break within the guard shift to slip away and find a path that led to the dungeons.

It was harder than I thought it would be.

Waiting until Ronan was gone from his bothersome visits, waiting until I could hear the footsteps of the retreating guards.

Slipping across the halls carefully, silently, and seeking out path after path, retracing my footsteps until I could find the one that led directly outside Soren's cell.

It took two nights to find it and three days of pretending to be Ronan's obedient doll, all the while sneaking away at night to speak with Soren to come up with a different plan.

Hearing Tova's words instilled a new sense of urgency in me. The plan had to be changed. We couldn't sit still, waiting on the council of six. If Tova's cryptic words had been meant to pass a message across, it was that we didn't have as much time as we initially bargained for.

Ronan isn't playing by the rules, not anymore. A hostile takeover, Soren had told me the first night I found his cell, and it had kept me awake the entire night. Alert to the guard shift and the words that were said outside my door.

The guards thought there would be a private execution soon. I didn't care to confirm it was Soren. I couldn't wait and watch him die.

My feet are near silent on the floorboards as I take the silent stairs out of the servants quarters. And run smack into a face I absolutely abhor.

"Still sneaking around like a little whore, I see," Kaida sneers, her brown eyes running a line along my disheveled hair, my lips swollen from kissing. "Goddess knows who it is this time."

Ignoring her, I try to step around her onto the staircase, but she grabs my arm, forcing me back. "Ronan's proposal means nothing. You will never be welcome here."

I lick my lips. "You assume that you will remain here for much longer. Shall I give Ronan a little slip on who tried to kill me and his unborn child? Want to see if he cares about you enough not to punish you for it?"

Her face pales. "I was only looking after my son. You were a nobody. Tova had more to offer him than you ever could."

"And you decided my life didn't matter. I was already leaving, but that wasn't enough for you. I had to die?—"

"They went too far. The attack was meant to get rid of the child."

There is sincerity in her eyes, but it only makes me feel worse.

"The decision to keep him was mine. To think you're a mother yourself and you couldn't understand such a simple thing.

" I lean in and her eyes flare with apprehension.

"If you have any bit of humanity left in you, you will stay the fuck out of my way, Kaida. "

She nods tightly, letting my hand go, and I start up the stairs, halting midway. "He hits Tova."

Kaida won't meet my gaze and I shake my head. "You are a woman, too, or does your status matter more to you than your son's obvious cruelty?"

She bares her teeth at me, no doubt to snarl at me, but I'm already taking the stairs, praying to the goddess that I made it back before the new guard shift.

I had to make a brief stop to retrieve my cellphone from where I'd tossed it under a flowerbed on my way here to notify Eric of the change in plans.

It had been a sneaky and scary twenty minutes of maneuvering like a damned spy, avoiding the cameras and guards, but I had gotten it done.

Training with Soren turned out to be useful. Again.

I release a breath of relief when I reach my bedroom and find no guards outside. But it is short lived when I turn the knob and find Ronan glancing out my window.

The air in the bedroom is thick with something dark and dangerous, and for a moment I contemplate not entering and running. Before I can decide, Ronan turns around and I am choked by the darkness that rolls off him.

"Where were you?" he asks with deadly softness.

I try to calm my heartbeat. "I went for a walk. I couldn't sleep."

His eyes zero in on the state of my body and lips, the fresh sets of hickeys on my neck. He shuts his eyes and inhales.

Then he moves.

I don't catch sight of him, until he is in front of me. Until pain explodes on my right cheek, snapping my head back painfully. It takes me seconds to process it, and even longer to comprehend it.

Eyes wide, I bring my fingertips to my stinging cheek, tracing it down to my burst lip. I blink, staring at a panting Ronan.

Before I can recover from the shock, he grips my blouse and tears it open. Buttons scatter across the floors and cold air kisses my breasts, covered thinly by the lacy bra that still sits askew.

But that isn't what holds his attention.

It is the dirt coating my clothes from sitting outside Soren's cell for hours and the track of dried blood from Soren's fingers that smear around my wrist where he'd held my hands and face in the dark, counting down the hours while we'd spoken about nothing and everything.

Ronan leans in, sniffing me.

A strangled sound rips from his throat. Somewhere between a laugh and a howl. His hands tremble, twitching like he doesn't know whether to cradle me or choke me.

"How long have you been visiting him without my permission?

" When I don't respond, he yells, "I loved you when you were nothing!

When you were broken, I held you. Even when you abandoned me, I waited for you.

You were mine! And you let him touch and fuck you like a street whore!

Still, I gave you chances and this is what you do! "

He begins pacing, hands yanking through his hair, muttering as if he is fractured right down the middle. And then, he whirls, slamming his fist into the wall beside me until the knuckles split and blood drips onto the floor.

Then his eyes snap to mine, wide, manic, unhinged. The tears are there now, burning, too proud to fall. "I would've given you everything! You were supposed to be mine. You are mine."

He steps forward.

"Say it. Say you were confused. Say you made a mistake. Tell me it meant nothing. TELL ME! "

And just like that, something inside me snaps.

I straighten, jaw locking, heart pounding like a war drum in my ribs. My voice is shaking when I speak, but not from fear. From fury.

" He is my husband ."

Ronan's eyes flash. "What?"

" I love him, " I breathe, then louder, angrier. "He is my mate. And I belong only to him." My hands form fists, fingernails digging into my palms.

"And I would die before I ever took you back."

He blinks. Once. Like he wasn't expecting that to hurt. But I keep going, because he isn't the only one who is unraveling tonight.

"I remember everything." I shoot him an acidic smile at his horrified surprise. "I got my memories back a while ago, and you have to know how disgusted I am by you. I look at you and I see everything you did. Everything you are. And I cannot fathom how I ever loved a man like you."

Ronan flinches, but I don't stop. My voice shakes with pent up rage, mental exhaustion and deep seated hate.

"You throw away every good thing in your life because we're all just pieces to you—chess pieces on a board you think you can move around.

And when you can't control something? You ruin it. Destroy it."

He is shaking, eyes reddened, veins close to popping, but I keep climbing, because if I don't let it out, it will shred me to pieces from inside.

"Everything has to bend to your fucking will or it breaks you, doesn't it?

That's what's really killing you, isn't it?

That I'm something you can't own anymore. "

He stares at me like I've stabbed him straight through and through, but I'm past the point of caring. I step forward, searching his eyes intently. "You want to know what they call people like you?" I whisper. "Fucking nutcases."

The slap comes hard and fast. I see it coming, but I don't move. The impact turns my face, but I don't fall.

I won't fall.

Even when my back hits the wall, even when my mouth fills with blood, I lift my head.

And I look at him.

Like he's nothing.

He lunges.

His body crashes into mine like a tidal wave. The wind rushes out of me, and suddenly his mouth is on mine, wet, frantic, violent.

I scream into it, trying to turn my head, but he grips my face in both hands, fingers digging into my jaw.

"I have spiraled because of you," he snarls against my lips. "I never used to hit women until you left me, you stupid bitch."

His breath is hot, reeking of alcohol, and it makes my stomach churn.

"I'm done playing nice. You like it rough, don't you?" He yanks my skirt, fabric ripping like paper. Cold air licks my waist, my ass, the inside of my thighs, and I try to shove him off, but he's too strong, too far gone.

I kick at him, scratch, claw at his arms, but he only shoves me harder against the wall, gripping my thigh.

"Part your legs, Fina," he hisses. "It's all you're good for anyway."

Terror grips me like a vice. My nails dig into his shoulders, finding skin, drawing blood. I twist, scream, spit in his face, but he doesn't stop. He kisses my neck, fondles my breasts, pushes my thighs apart, grinding against me with his erection.

His finger curls under my panties?—

Knock .

The sound is jarring, like thunder crashing through a nightmare. I scream louder and he slaps his palm over my mouth to muffle the sound as his head whips around.

Another knock, louder this time.

He freezes. Breathing hard. Chest heaving.

I take advantage of the distraction, shoving him with everything I have. It knocks him off balance, just enough for me to wrench myself away, stumbling half-naked across the floor, holding the scraps of my clothes to my body.

The door handle jiggles.

"Ronan?" a voice calls. Tova.

Ronan glares at the door like it's betrayed him. My entire body trembles with shock and fear. I shiver, even if the room is hot. "What?"

A small pause. "Dean was looking for you. There's a problem, Ron. Soren's gone and Landon's missing."