Page 61 of His to Keep
We head down at least forty steps before we come to another dimly lit corridor.
“I’ve always hated it down here,” Eilidh whispers. “It smells like death.”
It’s definitely less pleasant down here than in the more modern part of the house and Eilidh is right about the smell. It’s a combination of damp, blood, and piss.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back upstairs?”
Eilidh smiles sadly and shakes her head. “I need to do this.”
“Okay, but if I think it’s too much…”
“I know, you’ll throw me over your shoulder and carry me out of there.”
“Something like that,” I agree.
We come to a huge iron door with a padlock. Alexander takes a key from his pocket and unlocks it. As he opens the door, he casts another concerned look at his sister. She lifts her chin defiantly and he sighs.
Alexander enters the room first. I try to go next to make sure there’s nothing in here I don’t want Eilidh to see, but my wife barges past me. She comes to an abrupt stop.
Jason Henry and a man I assume is Tommy McCain are chained to the wall. Both have obviously suffered brutal beatings already. The scene before us is bad, but the table laid out with implements of torture hints at worse to come. Eilidh pales as she stares at the tools her brother and I will use to exact revenge on their enemies.
“Kitten,” I murmur, still hoping I can persuade her to go back upstairs.
She smiles weakly and shakes her head.
“How could I ever have thought I could kill them myself?” she says quietly so only I can hear.
“It’s one thing to think it, kitten. Doing it is different.”
Eilidh nods. She walks closer to the two men. I tense, afraid they might lash out at her, but neither man is in a fit state to harm her. Jason looks up. His lip curls into a sneer when he sees her. Tommy has the good sense to keep his head bowed.
“Look at me, McCain.” Her voice is strong, clear, commanding. Tommy lifts his head. There’s a nasty gash on his forehead and his lip is bleeding, but he’s in a better state than his boss who’s already received thorough attention from Alexander.
For a long time, Eilidh just stands there staring at the two men. She glances back over her shoulder, and I offer her an encouraging smile. If she has something she wants to say to this asshole, she deserves to get it off her chest before I give him the painful ending he’s earned.
She turns back to the two men. Her spine stiffens and she holds her head high. Then she takes me completely by surprise.
“I forgive you, Tommy.” She turns her head to look at Jason. “I forgive you both.”
With that, she turns and walks toward the door. She pauses to speak to me. “Do whatever you have to do to get them out of your system. I’ll be waiting in the bedroom whenever you’re done.”
As I watch her go, my chest swells with pride. She isn’t the princess I called her when we first arrived at the castle. That woman is a fucking queen and she’s all mine.
CHAPTER 21
Eilidh
When I wake from the most restful sleep I’ve enjoyed in years, Pipsy, my stuffed cat is on the pillow next to me and Gio is sitting on a chair by the bed staring down at me. There’s a weariness in his expression and he’s changed into the sweatpants and t-shirt I love to see him in. His hair is wet as if he took a shower. I sit up and lean back against the padded headboard of my bed.
“I don’t need details; just tell me if it’s done.”
Gio nods. “It’s done.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “It was a long fucking night.”
“A long night?” I glance around the room and realize it’s bright. I waited up for Gio until ten o’clock and then fell asleep reading one of my favorite books from when I was a teenager. It’s on the nightstand. Gio must have put it there.
“Yeah. It’s eight a.m. You slept like a log.”
“I did.” I fidget with the hem of my sleep shirt. “Do you think I’m weak?”
