Page 74 of For the Love of the Gods

The feeling of being watched, hunted by him was only more intense after last night. And as we descended into the tunnels below the house, the hallways transitioning from the rich brown scaffolding and intricate wallpaper to a cold stone, Dominic stayed silent, but I wasn’t given any solace from the awareness of his presence.

We were flanked by our guards and friends, Max leading with Marcus and Raiden standing on either side of us at the back. I knew I was physically safe, but I was starting to shake with fear.

Right as we reached the thick iron door to the dungeons, Dominic wrapped a hand around my upper arm, pulling me back into his chest.

The first jolt of contact sent a placating comfort spreading through me, but it was quickly replaced by a tense defensiveness when he bent his head to my ear and said, “Hold on.”

Marcus and Raiden walked to the door, giving us a moment of privacy. I looked up to find Dominic’s brown eyes penetrating, observant, as they took in my expression. His other hand drifted up to my back, and my shaking subsided some more.

“You’re terrified,” Dominic noted, sounding more like a curse than a statement.

“I’m fine,” I tried to say, but my voice broke off at the end.

Dominic’s jaw clicked. “You’re not going in there. We’ll make him talk.”

I shook my head and dropped my gaze to my feet. “He won’t.”

“Tell me who he is.” It was a hard command, accompanied by a squeeze of his hands on my arms.

I opened my mouth to tell him, but a tidal wave of fear was barreling towards me.

“Rose,” Dominic said, almost imperceptibly softer. “Who is he?”

I breathed through my nose once, twice. “My father’s old Head Guard.”

“What does he want with you?” He asked carefully.

Too carefully.

My head snapped up. And then it made sense. I often forgot that there were rumors I’d killed my father too. The scandal was wrapped up with Pine. We were openly close, the picture of a loving brother and sister.

But my father fading into death not a week after Pine died was just too much of a happy coincidence to not be my fault too. So,of course, his former guard would want revenge.Of course, I should be scared of him.

I felt a punch to the gut, the force of this endless cycle of blame and guilt pulling my chest tight.

“Revenge would be appropriate, don’t you think?” I snapped, markedly more tense than I’d been. The way Dominic’s tongue licked over his teeth made it clear that he knew he struck a nerve.

I stepped out of his hold, turning towards the door.

“Open it.”

No one moved.

“Max, open the door.” I sounded bitter, but I was about to get beat down in front of my friends and my husband, so...

Max reluctantly reached for the door and shot me a look that was openly empathetic. They knew what was about to happen, and made it obvious they were saddened by it on my behalf. I appreciated it, but it was too telling. Dominic would—

“Rose.”

Catch on. Hedidcatch on, based on the way he said my name.

I ignored it and took a step forward through the door after Raiden. Odell, my father’s former guard and man with a capacity for evil that never failed to surprise me, was crunched in the corner. His weathered body was still bronze from exposure in the Grecian sun, but now looked overexposed and crackly rather than healthy.

His hair still carried a whisper of the dark brown it was when I was a child, but was now overtaken by a mousy, ashy rendition of what it once was.

Odell’s head lifted at the arrival of bodies in the room, initially void of emotion at seeing Max again. But the second I stepped under the dingy light hanging from the ceiling, his mouth curled into the cruel smile of a hyena coming across an abandoned carcass.

“Hello, my dear.”

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