Page 60 of Into the Woods

But maybe Alain let that go to shit like he has everything else. Everything he’s stolen from me. Everything that is rightfully mine.

Just like Winnie.

“Enough, old man. Time for you to let go.” I keep my tone calm but make sure there is absolutely no room for misinterpretation.

Alain presses the knife harder against Winnie. A flick of his wrist and a well-placed jab would have her covered once again in crimson. This time blood instead of silk.

The only way I’ll allow that to happen is over my dead body.

My uncle chuckles low and sinister. “Non. This one is mine. Hands up and step back,” he orders, face red and breathing labored.

He was hit, I know he was. The force of the blow knocked him out of his fucking chair, had him sprawled on the floor, motionless.

I raise my hands, palms out, and take a step away, laterally as opposed to actually retreating from them. And when Alain shifts, I see it. A scarlet pool slowly expanding, staining the pearlescent white of his dress shirt to rival the black stain on his soul.

“You will let us pass; don’t move a muscle. The girl and I are walking out of here and you’re going to let it happen,comprends?” He pushes Winnie toward the door, struggling when he has to step over the body of one of his men.

How he thinks he’s going anywhere with her is beyond me. He’s barely ambulatory.

The restraint it takes not to pounce is immeasurable, but he has the edge of a blade pressed to my girl. A rivulet of blood trails from where the tip digs into her skin as he drags her over the prone body of his man.

Her face is a mask of fear.

I meet her gaze, pupils blown wide, and dip my chin hoping she picks up that I’ve got her. I let her go once, I’m not letting that happen again. No fucking way.

Reality crashes over Alain when they reach the top of the stairs. There’s no feasible way he can maintain his tenuous grasp on control of the situation, and that blink of realization is all I need.

I wrap a hand around Winnie’s upper arm and push her away, wedging myself between her and my uncle and launching him down the staircase.

Chapter 26

Devotion

Winnie

I fall to the floor,naked, bleeding, terrified.

Christophe and his uncle tumble down the stairs in a chaotic jumble of limbs and flashing metal, grunting the whole way. When Christophe stands, it’s with a loud grunt and a bit of a wobble. He lifts his chin, gaze meeting mine through the iron spindles of the banister.

I stare at him, the bars between us a barrier that needs to either be strengthened or destroyed.

“Come.”

That’s all he says, and my mind stutters to a halt. The last time he uttered that single word, he was buried deep inside me, pulling ungodly pleasure from me.

Now, there is no physical connection between us, just a full flight of stairs and a dead body.

Hopefully.

“Is he…?” Unable to finish that thought, I let it trail off.

Christophe glances down at his uncle, the hilt of a knife protruding from the man’s neck. “In hell, where he belongs.Hopefully bent over and getting fucked by the devil himself as a welcome.” He nudges Alain’s thigh, getting no response.

Dead. He’s dead. The monster is definitively gone.

I pull myself upright, standing on legs made of Jell-o.

“Come to me, honeybee.”

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