Lib Novel Page 25
Fuck, I trusted him enough that if the time came when I had a chance to end Victor—even if it meant forfeiting my life to take his—I’d do it.
I’d do it because Ily wouldn’t be alone. She’d have him. And Peter loved her just as much as I did and would do whatever it took to protect her.
I love you. I tipped my chin at Ily. So much.
She sucked in a breath, hearing me, thanks to the magic of our silent connection.
I know. She hugged her pillow as if it were me she embraced. Don’t fall over.
I chuckled under my breath, reached for Peter’s outstretched fingers, and stepped behind the wall as carefully as I could.
Chapter Four
………………………….
Ily
“WAKEY, WAKEY, PRECIOUS ILY…”
Panic cut through me like a dagger.
I shot upright. My hand flew to my chest, stopping my pounding heart from escaping.
Just a dream…
The sick chuckle had just been a—
“Finally, one of you open your eyes,” Victor murmured. “I was beginning to think all of you were dead.”
Throwing myself onto my knees, I looked to my left.
And there he was.
After a month of nothing.
A month of fearing when he’d come.
He’s here.
My heart switched from pounding to galloping. “You.”
“Of course, it’s me. Who did you think it would be?” Victor chuckled. “Your father?”
Huddling into a tight little ball on my hard wooden bed, I couldn’t stop pure hate flowing through me. I’d never truly known the weight of such an emotion. The word was thrown around so frivolously. ‘I hate winter. I hate sand in my shoes. I hate pollen.’
But true hate…real, violent, gut-ripping hate.
It was as potent as poison, and I did my best to get it out of me. Not because Victor didn’t deserve it but because I was only killing myself faster by feeling it.
Forcing my hands to unfurl and my pulse to stop racing, I glowered at him. “You didn’t forget about us, then.”
Victor lounged on a comfy blue suede chair that’d been brought into our dungeon and placed just out of reach of our chains. The bars behind him were closed, the keys swinging around his forefinger with a gentle jingle. “Of course not. It’s been a test of patience to leave you this long.” His gaze flickered to Henri.
God, Henri.
For thirty-three days, I’d had to watch him exist on the line of surviving and dying. Sometimes, I’d physically feel his soul’s attachment to his body growing weaker. I’d scream at him, hoping my voice punctured his dreams, ordering him to stay alive…just for a little longer.
Each time I begged him to stay, he’d suck in a rattling breath across the dungeon and groan in agony as he clung to his broken body.