Page 108 of Taming Seraphine

“How so?”

“Julio was the only one who wasn’t attacking Mom because I killed him.”

“That’s a good sign.” He moves his hand to my cheek and cups my face. His eyes are so intense that I’m drawn in, and my pulse slows. “It shows that you’re taking control of your demons.”

My throat thickens. “What about the ones I can’t kill? Dad was holding her down, barking orders at the others. I can’t ever slay him because he’s already dead.”

Leroi’s gaze falters from mine for a second, as though he regrets not leaving Dad alive. “We’ll work something out. Let’s focus on the ones we can hunt.”

Nodding, I lean against his chest and exhale a long sigh. He presses a soft kiss on my forehead. “The road to progress isn’t always smooth. You’ve come a long way from the girl I pulled out of the basement, and I’m proud of your progress.”

His words send a wave of warmth through my chest, and I tuck my head under my chin. I almost feel bad for those pictures I drew of him, but not completely.

“We’ll get through this,” he murmurs. “Together.”

“Hmmmm.” I burrow into his side.

“But there’s one thing I need to know,” he says into my hair.

“What’s that?”

“What are you doing in my bed, naked?”

FORTY-ONE

LEROI

Seraphine gapes up at me, her lips parted, and her eyes wide. Even though the lights are dim, I can still see her cheeks darkening with a blush.

“Wh-what?” she whispers.

I raise my brows, expecting her to say she sleepwalked or was lying here in wait to ambush me for refusing her advances, but her face crumples.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see my past. I couldn’t sleep last night after Pietro, and I needed to rest.” She shudders. “I had nowhere else to go.”

“And the clothes?”

“My skin started crawling after Julio.” She bows her head. “The only thing I could tolerate were your silk sheets.”

I can’t even tell if this is bullshit because I don’t know how she’s still functioning after five years of captivity, murder, and abuse. Anyone else might turn to substances to cope, but Seraphine’s strength is incredible.

“Do you want to take a break from the killing?” I ask. Paolo Rochas is waiting for her beneath the warehouse. I don’t want to keep him without water for too long. A weak, dehydrated hostage isn’t the most coherent.

“No.” She clutches my shirt.

“I could interrogate them myself and?—”

“No,” she shrieks. “I need to slay all the ones that are left alive. It’s the only way.”

“Only way to do what?”

“Only two things kept me going when I was in the basement. The first was the hope of getting to make them scream. The second was chocolate.”

“Chocolate?”

She nods. “I’ve always wanted my own chocolate fountain.”

My head throbs. Such a simple request, but I’m deathly allergic. I can’t afford to go near it and lose my edge. “Fine. I won’t leave you out.”

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