Diamond Kisses (The Jewelry Box #4)

But…I had to try.

Baring my teeth, tasting blood—my blood—I tried one last time to get to him.

His eyes flared as I managed to get close.

His lips parted as I reached for him.

And then every remaining guard in the cave collided with me.

They knocked me down.

Towered over me in a ring of retribution.

And then…

…pain.

Chapter Two

………………………….

Ily

I SCREAMED AS FURIOUS MEN stood over Henri and kicked him.

A mob of them.

A swarm.

A never-ending punishment of savage fists and chaos.

It went on forever.

A sickening eternity.

The heavy thuds of their abuse.

The godawful grunts as Henri suffered.

“Stop it!” I yelled. “Stop, please!”

The guards only grew more vicious.

Sweat rivered down their temples, bodies wounded, blood drawn, doing their best to kick him to death.

I lost sight of Henri as he stayed down.

My ears rang for any sound that he’d survived.

“STOP IT!” I sobbed.

Peter grabbed my hand and squeezed. Our palms slicked together, smearing blood. His blood. My blood. It didn’t matter. We both wore injuries from our own punishments, and my bones ached from two Masters hitting me.

None of that mattered because if they kill him…

“You have to stop!” I tried to crawl around a few Masters’ legs, barring us in a cage by the cave wall. “Please don’t kill him!”

Victor blew me a kiss from across the temple.