Page 104 of Unveil
The welt on her cheek from that Wilde’s backhand is the worst of them, the cut on her shoulder a close second. I wish I could drag him and his knife-wielding friend back from the grave to fuck them up again, toy with them like a cat with its prey. At least Luna helped take out the first one, cracking his neck under her foot.
But it’s not just her wounds that’ll worry me until I get her safe in Dark Corner. It’s been almost a week, but she’s already losing weight she couldn’t afford to. Her spine is more pronounced, cheekbones sharper. The bodice I ripped still fits, but only because of my hack job stitch-up, threading tulle like a corset through slits I cut. It hugs her lean frame and pushesher breasts up so high it’s a wonder she can breathe. I want the thing off her as soon as we’re safe. The once-white fabric and remaining feathers are nearly black now, stained by bog mud and dark crimson blood.
Forcing my gaze away from my girl, I focus on Benoit, laying him on the floorboards to work swiftly. I don’t touch the gun he never had a chance to fire. No matter how helpful it could be, the bad luck that comes with a dead man’s weapon ain’t worth the risk. But I pocket his cracked phone, keys, and an unlabeled pill bottle. Then I zip up his jacket, covering the bloodstains so she won’t have to see them again.
“I’m finished,” I murmur.
She appears before the last word’s out, dropping beside him and gathering his body into her lap again to rock him. Her face returns to that blank expression Ihate, churning my stomach.
I slowly rise and step outside, giving her space she probably won’t even notice. Glancing back at her, I pull Benoit’s phone out and swipe through it, then bring it to my ear to make the call I’ve been dreading.
It’s answered on the first ring.
“Benny? You okay, kid? You missed your check-in.”
Fuck. Me.
The casual tone slices through my resolve deeper than I’d expect. I suck my teeth, rub at the pang in my chest, then let out a hard sigh.
“Bordeaux.”
There’s silence before Luna’s father answers gruffly.
“Explain.”
Imove farther down the muddy path toward the lake, as far as I’ll allow myself away from Luna, keeping her within my line of sight but out of earshot. Still, I lower my voice.
“Benoit is dead.”
“You mother?—”
“I didn’t kill him.” My eyes flick back to my distraught girl, still exactly as I left her, then sweep the woods again. “But I’ll give you one guess who did.”
A pause, then Sol grits out. “The Wildes.” Rage roughens his voice. “None of this would’ve happened if you’d never stolen my daughter.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“Let’s get one thingcrystalfucking clear.Youmade a vow. King Fury’s kin kept our end, and we didn’t tell a soul. Butsomehowthe Wildes found out. The only reason I had to ‘steal’ her in the first place is because you’ve got snakes in your own garden.”
I give him a second to choke on that before twisting the knife.
“You didn’t even know that Ozias was a Wilde, did you?”
“The hell he is. What did you do with him? He’s been missing since that night.”
Missing? He was supposed to be at the hospital…
I blink, pushing past that question to answer him, my voice firm. “I handled Ozias becauseyoudidn’t. And his cousins? Bart and Rufus? They slipped right past your precious shadows too. They drugged her, Sol.”
He sucks in a sharp breath. “No way that happened in mycity.”
“I’m telling you… It. Did. If you don’t believe me, ask my brothers for the photo of the Pining blister pack we found on Rufus. There was some plan between him and Bart to take Luna. Maybe Ozias was even in on it too.”
Silence stretches between us, but I can practically hear him connect it all.
“We found Rufus dead,” he finally admits, less hostility in his tone. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that, I guess. “What of Bartholomew and Ozias?”
“This is the first time I’ve had signal in nearly a week, but last I heard from my brothers, Bart’s in the wind.”
