Page 41 of Eternally Bound

“Let me take you to bed,” Daniel murmured. “You need to rest.”

He was right, I knew he was, but I couldn’t erase those images out of my mind. A headless body. A head rolling across the dirty floor. The same golden hair as my son’s soaked with blood.

Jesus Christ. This had to be a nightmare.

“Ainslee,” Daniel’s voice softly pulled me back.

“Okay. Yes, bed.” I couldn’t even compose a sentence. I went to stand up, but my legs were too weak and gave out. Daniel quickly caught me and lifted me up.

He carried me through his dark castle and to my bedroom. I checked on Bram earlier, and he had fallen asleep right away. The video came shortly after, and now suddenly, I felt the need to be close to him. I stared at the door down the hallway from my room, and Daniel must have understood it. Without a word, he took me over.

Softly, he clicked the knob downwards and walked me in. The room was dark, lit only by the pale moonlight. Bram’s little blonde hair drowned in the big fluffy bed, his hair color stark against the dark blue of the covers. The image of blood soaked blonde hair played on repeat, and I shut my eyes tightly.

“Ainslee, you and your son are safe,” Daniel spoke softly. “I’d rather die than let anything happen to either of you.”

I believed him. That could have been us on the video if Daniel hadn’t come for us.

“Keep us safe and stay alive,” I whispered against his neck. I didn’t want him to die. I wanted him safe, just as my own family. “I can’t- I don’t want to see you hurt.” I raised my head to lock eyes with him. “Promise me, Daniel.”

The air stilled between us, the unspoken words loud. He broke his last promise, he never came back to me, but this one I needed fulfilled. I didn’t want to spend another day for the rest of my life without him. “I need you to be alright too. I need you to keep this promise.”

He lowered me onto the bed, slowly to ensure we didn’t wake up Bram.

“I won’t let the devil himself tear me away from you, Nightingale,” he whispered against my lips.

Good, I thought silently.Because the devil himself might be coming.

“Now sleep and don't worry about anything. I got you.”

And he did. If any man had me, it was this man.

Chapter Sixteen

Daniel

Iwatched Ainslee close her eyes and slowly drift to sleep, holding on to her son. She was safe here. Nobody from my mafia contacts knew about my property nor businesses in Scotland. Until I found out where my uncle was or who he was working with, she wasn’t setting foot out my front door.

I waited until her breathing evened out and she was asleep, then made my way back downstairs to talk to Arthur. We needed to check Ainslee’s phone and track the number that sent her that video. We had to look for any clues in that video, anything we could use.

I headed back downstairs, into the library where Ainslee’s phone was left on the couch. Arthur was already there, waiting for me. He watched me in silence as I entered the room and poured myself a bourbon.

“Want some?” I asked him.

Arthur shook his head. He was not only the most reliable man I had but also an expert hacker. I knocked back the glass of bourbon, the burn going down my throat and into my stomach. I filled up the glass and went to the seat where I found Ainslee earlier replaying the footage over and over again.

I played the video, watching a figure dressed in black killing Bram’s father. It was a gruesome scene. I replayed it again and watched it with narrowed eyes, looking for any clues. I almost missed it, I rewound and stopped on a specific part. I zoomed in on the man’s hand. I zoomed in further and then saw it.

A birthmark in the shape of the butcher knife. Finally a clue!

Arthur spotted it at the same time. “That bastard,” he growled in a low voice.

“Can you trace the location he sent it from?” I questioned. My uncle was dumb, but maybe he’d made a mistake and we’d be able to trace the location.

He took the phone and headed out of the room.

This is what it feels like being betrayed, I thought to myself wryly.

I stared at the fireplace, watching embers flicker and dance. The scene from twelve years ago flashed in my mind, the screams of two men as they burned to death. It seemed that every time I saw fire, those images came back. It was a hard thing to forget.

---