Page 103 of Scorching Sienna

She says the words softlyand carefully, afraid thatsaying them attaches some sort of retribution to them.

“I want to face him before you…you know, do whatever you are going to do.”

That was doable.

“Okay. We need to go now. My…activities have a time limit, unfortunately.”

She dips her brow in confusion but nods, pushing away from the basin and taking a large breath.

I take her hand in mine, our eyes locking.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, rainbow.”

She nods and smiles.

“I know.”

Chapter 26

Light

Bob leads me through a large metal roller shutter door and into a large warehouse, bare bar a large shipping container in the middle.

After Damon dropped me off at Requiem, telling me to get dressed into something warmer, Bob fetched me an hour later and brought me here.

Damon approaches us, dipping his head in acknowledgment to Bob, who leaves.

His chocolate brown eyes sweep my face, and concern is etched into every line surrounding his chocolate brown eyes.

I can feel how pale my face is—it’s been that way since we left Lola’s. Even Trixy and Roger noticed when we told them we were leaving early, asking if I was okay. My blood must be working overtime, trying to warm the rest of my body, but no matter how thick my coat is, a bone-deep chill lingers.

His hand palms my cheek, and the gentle stroke of his thumb across the flesh is comforting.

“Are you ready for this?” I love that he doesn’t ask me if I still want to do this. He knows better than that. I have to do this. I have to face the man who has played such a significant role in my life—a man I no longer wanted to have a leading or supporting role in my life.

I nod my head, and Damon takes my hand, his hand as icy as mine.

His eyes squint, and then he lets go of my hands, fishing in his pockets before pulling out a pair of gloves. He takes one hand and then the other, slipping a glove on each. They are too big for me, but they do the job of protecting my hands against the nip in this cold environment. I feel overwhelmed with the way he loves me. I am his priority.

He takes my hand and leads me towards a black door on the right-hand side of this ample space. Men stand guard at all the entrances, their faces emotionless. They are burly. The typical type of guard one would expect from a man like Damon in his line of business. The black door leads into a long passage, past several closed wooden doors. This space was definitely not luxurious likeSin. I’ve been trying to process all the information Damon gave me in a fairly short time. The time limit we are being held hostage to does not leave any grace period.

My stomach turns as if sensing we are getting closer to the man responsible.

Lowrens Briar. The Reaper.

I’d tried to imagine how he looked from the few visuals I was afforded at Lady Chatman’s, but I knew nothing would match the reality. I dip my hand into my pocket, the gloves not allowing me to grasp the folded picture I know is there—the one he took from my father’s house.

Damon says that Lowrens’ obsession with me formed in prison and was fed by the copious amounts of time he was afforded in thatenvironment—five years of time. I can only imagine all the warped and insane thoughts he conjured up. While I couldn’t understand obsession, I could see it with Damon sometimes. But they showed it differently. Damon adored me obsessively, while it felt like Lowrens’ infatuation was objective. I’m not a person to him. The fabricated person in his mind who wears my appearance and to whom he has done so many things in his imagination isn’t real. She is an object.

This is the only way I can justify it. But I still keep asking myself how this happened. First with Lowrens and then with Damon. What had attracted these men to me?

Damon says it is my light, that I am a beacon of shining innocence that calls to black souls like his. Like Lowrens. I don’t know what that means. I am just Sienna.

Damon halts before another black door, turning to face me while his hands lightly grasp my shoulders.

“Prepare yourself. He is naked and injured. But not dead. That will come later.”

I take a deep breath and then shake my head to clear my thoughts. I could do this. I could be strong and do this. I wanted to. I wanted this.

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