Page 65 of His

He broke Cillian’s nose.

The two engage in a brutal fist fight, eventually falling into the hallway. Behind us, Valerie is screaming and Jackie is trying to calm her down.

I rush into the hallway, yelling at Astor to stop, hoping that hearing my voice will snap him out of it.

Blood runs down both their faces, dripping off their chins.

I’m vaguely aware of Jackie sprinting past us and out the door, as I continue screaming, trying to distract Astor.

Something in Cillian’s eyes flash, a look that resembles the crazed one on Astor’s face, and then, as if someone hit a fast forward button on him, he snaps, delivering a series of punches to Astor’s torso and face that incapacitates him within seconds.

Cillian wrestles Astor to the ground until—finally—Astor lays limp.

“That’s enough, friend,” Cillian growls, his blood dripping on Astor’s cheek. “That’s enough.”

Chest heaving, Cillian pushes off Astor, who he could have easily killed, and wipes the blood from his lips.

Astor stumbles to get off the floor, disoriented. His eyes are dilated, distant. One will be swollen shut in an hour.

He’s extremely messed up.

“Leave us,” he says weakly.

Neither Cillian nor I move.

“Leave us.”

I look at Cillian for reassurance. After a moment, he dips his chin—he won’t hurt her now.

I take Cillian’s hand as he guides me down the hallway. Over my shoulder, I watch as Astor disappears into Valerie’s room.

Forty-Two

Astor

My ears are ringing, my head feels like an over-inflated balloon, my stomach is nauseous, but none of that is going to stop me from getting the answers I need.

The answers I deserve.

I stumble into the bedroom. Valerie, still on the floor, screams at my bloodied and bruised appearance, and scrambles backward against the wall.

“I’m not going to kill you,” I mumble, spitting a string of blood on the floor.

Valerie whimpers, covering her face with her hands.

“Stop.” I kneel down and pull her hands away from her face. “I’m not going to hurt you. But I am done with the games—I’m done walking on eggshells. I’m done with you. You will talk to me, or I will throw you out of this house and leave you to rot in the woods. Do you understand me?”

Her wide-eyes flicker between the open gashes on my face.

“I know Chloe is not my child.”

She blinks, shocked by this.

“Do you think you could keep something that big a secret for the rest of our lives?”

Her mouth opens and closes. She’s stunned speechless.

“Say it, Valerie. Say his name.”

---