Page 110 of Hearts of Stone

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “When I visited Ashley. The poor old bastard. He was trying to drag this place into the modern day, but he was as much a product of a bygone era as the old kitchen.” His eyes met mine. “He did that for you.”

“Not for me exactly.” I stammered that out, finding myself pressed against the kitchen bench way too hard. “He didn’t even know who I was.”

“No, more’s the pity.” He reached over my head and plucked two cups down from the cupboard, then set them onto the benchtop. “I did ask him though, over and over.”

“About me?” I asked, my voice all high and squeaky.

“About the heir. He held his cards very close to his chest and had invested in some of the best wards money could buy.” Adam snorted. “He couldn’t do it himself by then. Madeline’s curse was well in effect.” His lips twisted. “The mighty Whiteley family, brought so low.”

“And what does that have to do with Daniel?” I pressed. “You said you had information about Daniel.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

It was as he stood there, looming over me, that I saw the mask drop and something else altogether rise up.

Wulfstan struggled with sanity after all he’d been through, but when I saw the same wild look in Adam’s eyes, it seemed to have quite different origins. Wulfstan saw what had been, what might be, but was unable to focus on the here and now for any length of time. Adam, however, had a look in his eye like that of a young boy pulling the wings of butterflies, or burning ants with a magnifying glass. The part of his brain that realised they were living creatures and that what he was doing amounted to torture not yet developed.

But in Adam’s case, it never had.

That same thoughtlessness, carelessness in a child manifested entirely differently in a grown man. It turned into cruelty, or, worse, non-consensual sadism. As Adam bent closer, I watched him lift those long, slender fingers of his. I had a sense of certainty that they would hurt much more than they helped, and then his hand gripped my jaw. I couldn’t look away, not even for a second, as his eyes stared unblinkingly into mine.

“Do you know the sound Daniel makes when his heart breaks?” Adam asked me. “When he knows that none of the sweet scenarios he has projected on his partner are ever going to come true, but he comes crawling back anyway. He makes this helpless little groan.” Adam demonstrated for me and a sob caught in my throat, because I knew. I just knew what he was telling me. “But he can’t stop himself from coming back for more. The boy’s not just a pain slut, but something far more precious. A young man that is so very beautiful, yet completely without boundaries.”

Adam’s face lit up, and my blood ran cold.

“Do you know, I’d given up hope of finding someone like him? A life partner who’d dive off the deep end with me, screaming during the freefall, but never pulling up.” Adam was like a magnet of the opposite polarity, repelling me with every breath. I went to move away from him, but he snatched at my wrist with his other hand, effectively pinning me to the bench. “It was all going to be so perfect.”

His head tilted to one side, as though considering that scenario, and then I had the horrible thought he was about to come in for a kiss. Bile flooded my mouth, and I felt sure that vomit would soon follow. I let out a strange high-pitched sound, a twin to the one ringing in my ears.

“You’re Big?”

“Is that what he calls me?” I wanted to slap that delighted, boyish smile right off Adam’s face. “I guess that makes sense.Yes, Jade, I was the one that took your little boy toy out and showed him a very good time.” His lips twisted. “Or a very bad time, depending on how you see it.” His head ducked closer. “And I did it all for you.”

“I didn’t want that,” I growled. “You brutalised my best friend.”

“I gave him exactly what he wanted and nothing less,” came his short retort. “Just as I’ll do the same to you.” My whole body quivered as the hand on my jaw slid down my neck, thumbing my pulse. “But you don’t like pain.”

“No,” I forced out, my voice all shaky.

“And that’s why our little family will be so perfect.” A strange light lit up his face, one that forced a knife blade made of pure ice into my heart. “You will be at the centre of our coven, the one we love, care for, cosset. You’ll have everything you want, Jade, if you just submit. The two of us will lavish you with more pleasure than you could dream of.”

“Daniel’s gay…” I ground out.

“That doesn’t matter; not with our collective power. We’ll burn away the dross and make him the perfect submissive. You’ll finally be able to have the kind of relationship you’ve always wanted with him.”

Yeah, vomit was definitely filling the back of my throat and the burning acid was making my eyes water. I’d never had thoughts, ever, about Daniel like that. The idea of creeping on a gay man was completely abhorrent, but it was more than that. When you actually care about someone, then things like who they are and what they need are far more important than any kind of might-have-beens. Plus, if I was in a relationship with him and had to deal with his bouncy shit 24/7 I’d axe-murder him in his sleep.

But Adam would never understand any of that.

We weren’t people, with thoughts and feelings just as valid as his. Instead we were merely pawns to be moved around the board to suit him. Whatever we might have to say about those moves were at best irrelevant and, at worst… I pictured the ragged map of abuse that Adam had inked all over Daniel’s skin. And I spat the bile that’d been simmering in my throat right in his face.

“All I want is for him to be safe and happy; to find a guy or guys who’ll treat him the way he deserves to be,” I snarled, as his grip tightened to the point of pain.

“I treated him exactly the way he deserved.” Adam forced out through gritted teeth. “Most would’ve fought me, tried to hold me off, but he folded like a house of cards. Hewanted—”

I shoved my free hand up and seized him by the throat, knowing it wouldn’t help; that it might make things worse. But I couldn’t stop myself. I squeezed and squeezed, and the white light in my palms flared to life.

“If you try and say he wanted what you did to him, so help me—”

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