: Chapter 32

Two years ago…

Toby had left, and as I watched him go, I was overcome with grief. I was going to lose my baby. I was never going to be free of this prison. My life, and the life of my child, was over. Then, through the soul crushing sadness and loss of hope, my Sensativa manifested. I felt Toby’s magic for the first time ever. And I felt it fade as he walked further away from me. The manifestation was like a reminder, the universe was poking me and saying, “No! Your life, and the life of your child is far from over. You are a witch!”.

I couldn’t stay at Harry’s house. Staying meant certain death for my baby. At least out there, we had a chance. So, I left too. I put on my mother’s old boots, scooped up my book, climbed out of the window and I ran into the darkness after him. I ran hard and fast, like the Devil was chasing me. I knew that if Harry caught me running, I was as good as dead, but staying was not an option. As I ran after Toby, his magic started to fade. He was travelling faster than me. Perhaps in a car? He spoke of living by the sea and was heading towards the coast so I just kept going.

For days!

I stole warm clothes from a bag left outside a charity shop. I ate from bins and drank water from public bathrooms. I slept in alley ways or in barns.

I just kept going. Hood up and head down. I didn’t know where I was going or if I would ever find Toby again. I had no plan on how I was going to get him to change his mind and help us. So, I just kept walking. I remember a woman waking me after I fell asleep in the doorway of a church. She fed me a good meal and gave me money and a phone number to call in case I needed help. She knew I was in trouble, but I was a witch and not safe with humans, so I left and threw away her number. She was kind. If Hunters knew she had helped me, even though she had no idea what I was, she would have been killed.

I carried on.

Until one evening when I started to feel a humming in the air. I followed it all the way to a dingy old pub at the base of a hill. I went inside but saw no sign of Toby. I continued to follow the sensation, all the way to a man who was leaning over a pool table with a cue in his hand and a cigarette between his lips. I stood beside him, hand outstretched as I wove his aura through my fingers. He lifted his gaze before he took his shot and then slowly stood up. His brilliant blue eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted, causing the cigarette to fall to the floor. He took a step towards me and I flinched.

‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he told me softly, putting out the cigarette beneath his boot. ‘I just… Are you…?’ He carefully lowered my hood, my red hair tumbled out. ‘Holy shit. You are. You’re a Hooper!’ He looked me over, his eyes narrowed and a deep furrow appeared in his brow. ‘Are you okay? You look like someone has beaten the hell out of you!’ He examined the bruises Harry gave me and gets angry. ‘Who hit you? Who did this?’

‘W-Will you help us?’

‘Us?’ he asked, glancing around the bar. ‘Who else is with you?’

I remember the world spinning and my legs giving out from under me. He caught me before I could fall and held me in his arms. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked.

‘Lilly,’ I whispered, my eyes getting too heavy to keep open. ‘What’s… yours?’

‘Gabriel. My name is Gabriel. And yes,’ he said. ‘Yes of course I will help you.’

‘Gabriel…’ I repeated. ‘Like the angel…’ And then I passed out completely.

When I opened my eyes, I was in Gabriel’s room at The Starlight hotel. He had laid me in the bed and sat by my side waiting for me to wake, and when I did, I was absolutely terrified. But he was calm and gentle with me in every way. He spoke slowly and kindly. He gave me room. He didn’t touch me. I was still in my filthy clothes and the aftermath of my journey still laid heavy on my body. He gave me food and let me shower. I dressed in his clothes and ate some more.

I was too scared to talk at first. I spent most of those early days cowering in the corner like a frightened child. What if I was wrong, and what I felt in the air didn’t mean that he was a witch like Toby and me? Gabriel promised that he wouldn’t hurt me, or take me anywhere I didn’t want to go. The whole time, he tried to make me feel at ease. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to trust him. For days, he tried to get me to feel comfortable. We watched movies. He read to me. Made sure I ate and felt safe.

Three days in, he asked me outright if I had access to magic. I panicked and I ran. Before I could get to the door, he compelled me to stop and turn around. He even ordered me to hop on one foot, just to show that he could.

I knew then that he had the power to control others. He was a witch too, just like me. I burst into tears and fell into his arms. Relief washed over me like a tidal wave.

Sitting me down on the bed, he told me that he knew the Hoopers from long ago. That he knew that we were witches. And that under no circumstances should I be afraid of him.

He was the sweetest man I’d ever met.

So, I took a chance. I told him the truth.

I told him about Toby and about our relationship. About Harry’s cruelty. I told him that I ran away from home and had nowhere else to go.

I told him that I was pregnant.

He went white as a sheet and sat in silence for a long time. After that, he seemed to pull himself together. We did another test just to be sure. When the two lines appeared, I was nervous. I had no idea how he would react. But with a warm smile, he rested his hand on my knee.

‘Congratulations, Lilly. You’re going to be a mum. And I bet you’ll be a bloody brilliant one.’

‘You do?’

‘Absofuckinglutely. You’ve already been through hell to keep her safe.’

‘Her?’

He looked down at my belly and tilted his head to the side in thought. ‘Yeah. Totally a little girl in there.’ He lifted his head. ‘What do you want to do? I can track down Toby if you like? See if we can try and work something-’

‘No!’ I barked. ‘No more Toby.’ I shielded my belly with my arms. ‘He’s not a good man. Not like you are.’ My cheeks blushed at my own words as Gabriel’s eyes widened. ‘Please. Don’t find Toby. Don’t take me home.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Positive.’

He clears his throat and gives a nod. ‘Alright then. No Toby. No Harry. We’ll figure it out just the two of us.’

The days passed, and with each day, he never left my side for long. We grew close. We became friends. One day he returned with piles of bags in his arms. Sat on the bed with my legs crossed, wearing one of his long-sleeved tops and a pair of jogging bottoms that were far too big, I watched Gabriel unpack them excitedly. Jeans with stretchy waist bands. Billowing blouses. And a beautiful red jumper which he hands me with an excited grin, and demonstrated how the belly stretches.

‘I saw the colour and knew it would be perfect for you,’ he beamed. ‘You’ll be big when winter comes and the colour suits you perfectly.’ I put on the jumper and didn’t take it off for days. It was the first new piece of clothing I had ever worn.

He started reading baby books with me. I laughed for an hour straight at his reaction to a television show he thought would be a good idea to watch. Watching women give birth is not for everyone and I found his horrified expression funny beyond reason. I giggled like crazy when he hid behind me as the woman started to push.

In the night, I would have nightmares. He stopped sleeping on the sofa and started sleeping beside me on top of the covers. Then underneath them. Then with me in his arms. I woke one night and lifted my head from his chest to find him watching me. The rain was falling heavily outside. The sound was blissful.

‘I think I might have feelings for you,’ he told me, stroking the hair from my sleepy face. ‘In fact, I know I do. I have really strong feelings for you, Lilly.’

‘I’m pregnant with another man’s child,’ I reminded him painfully.

‘I know. But that doesn’t matter to me.’ It was in that moment, as he rested his palm on my cheek, that I realised that all the weeks we had spent together in this room had been the best weeks of my life. I felt things with him, and for him, that I had never felt with anyone else. His touch didn’t hurt, but instead felt warm and comforting. He leaned in. We kissed. That was all. Just a kiss. But it felt so real and so deep that I knew we had something worth having.

The next morning, he told me that he was making plans for me to leave the country. To get out of England for good, to somewhere no one would ever find me. And my heart sank because I didn’t want to imagine a day where he wouldn’t be with me.

And then he asked, ‘Could I come with you?’

I was stunned. ‘You want to run away with me?’ I gasped.

‘Yes. I want to run away with you.’ He laid his hand on my belly. ‘I want to run away with both of you.’

‘Why? I’m damaged goods. Second hand-’

‘You’re the girl of my dreams,’ he insisted. ‘You’re funny and feisty and sexy. Even when you spend an hour throwing up every morning,’ he laughed. ‘I never want to leave this hotel room, but when I do, all I want to do is come back.’

‘Gabriel, you’re gorgeous. You could have any girl you wanted.’

‘I want you.’

‘But I’m going to have a baby. Then it will be sleepless nights and changing nappies-’

‘And teaching her to walk and talk. Reading her bedtime stories and showing her how to ride a bike. Hearing her call you mummy and me… Err… I could be uncle Gabriel. Whatever you want. I want to be with you, Lilly. I want to help you raise your daughter. I’ll be whatever you want me to be, because I’ve fallen in love with you. Completely and utterly.’ He looks down at my belly. ‘And with her too. But if you don’t want me to be-’

‘Japan.’ I told him.

‘Huh?’

‘I’ve always wanted to see the Cherry Blossoms in Japan.’

‘Then I will get you a plane ticket to Japan.’ He stood and hung his head low, crestfallen. ‘You’ll have plenty of money, I’ll make sure-’

‘Two tickets,’ I told him. His head sprung up. His eyes were on stalks.

‘You mean…’

‘I’ve fallen in love with you too, Gabriel.’

He whisked me up in his arms and spun me around, laughing and crying all at the same time. As was I.

It was weird. I thought I loved Toby. But I felt more for Gabriel in those five-weeks than I did in all the years I was with Toby. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be. With him. He was home, and I never wanted to leave.

It was the night before we were due to leave. Our bags were packed. Our tickets were on the dressing table tucked into my new and very fake passport. But Gabriel needed to get some cash and he wanted to wait until the last minute so as to not get caught out by his family. There was a knock on the door. I laughed, thinking that he had forgotten his key.

When I opened the door, I saw Toby instead. And he was furious. I slammed the door shut but he jammed his foot inside and shoved it back open. I tried to run. To call for help. But he was too fast. In the scuffle, my necklace broke and fell to the floor. A few punches and I was out. He took me. I woke occasionally as he drove. I was in the backseat of his car, bound and gagged. My head throbbed and blood filled my mouth as he cradled me in his arms. When I fully awoke, I was on the floor of the Miller’s barn.

Toby stood over me and told me that I had betrayed him and that my betrayal would have consequences.

He said I had taken away my love for him. He’d lost my obedience and loyalty. He told me he was sure he would get it all back.

But first, he had to rid me of my “parasite”. He told me that he had had a vision and saw my death while pregnant, and that even after all my betrayals, he couldn’t lose me. He loved me too much.

I told him that if he hurt my baby he’d better kill me too.

Then Ava came. And they took my child from me.

Two days I laid on that barn floor in agony, writhing and bleeding, and no one helped me. The six men who stood over me as guards, laughed at me. They mocked me and taunted me as I lay at their feet. Toby told me he left a note for Gabriel saying that I’d changed my mind and decided to return to Toby. He also informed me that he had messaged Gabriel, telling him he had eloped with a girl he had gotten pregnant and not to look for him.

No one was coming to look for us. No one was coming to save me. And Gabriel believed I had left him for another.

That day, I closed my eyes and stopped moving. I slowed my breathing down as slow as I could. The men watching me called Toby, fearing that I was dying. He came. As I continued to feign unconsciousness, he felt safe enough to untie me with a plan to take me to a doctor. I tore off my binding spell and as soon as my magic returned, as soon as I was strong enough to fight back, I Broke. It was like the pain, anger and grief was amplified, enhanced by my magic. It was too much and I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t save myself.

I didn’t want to.

I tore the men to pieces. I broke their bones and skinned them alive. I cut them open and impaled them with pitch forks.

Vengeance consumed me.

With his men dead, I turned on Toby. But he attacked me first and when I was down, he fled. I returned home to seek more vengeance. Harry wasn’t home. Neither were Christa or Simmons. I tortured a maid to find out where they had gone. I was told Christa had travelled to Portugal and Harry and Simmons were out scouring the country for me. I sealed the doors and surrounded the house in a ring of flames. No one could escape me. I stalked through the house in the dead of night, like a predator hunting their prey. My bare feet left bloody prints and staff hid from me. Four died at my hand in the first hour. I played with them like a cat would play with a mouse. I skinned them. I slowly cut open their bellies so their insides glided to their feet while they were alive. I made them watch as their friends died slowly and painfully, all the while knowing that they would be next. I was in no rush. No one could get in and no one could get out. But they had lied to me. Harry had gone, yes. Simmons had not. I was busy scooping out a maid’s eyeball with a spoon when Mr Simmons hit me around the back of the head with a baseball bat. I was knocked out cold. When I awoke, I was in the cellar. Harry and Simmons stood over me as I knelt before them in chains with the binding spell in my mouth. I laughed. For the next two days, they surrounded me with misery. Not pain. Misery. They wanted to punish me for what I’d done so they left the pregnancy test Harry made me take in front of me. They smothered the walls in photos of my mother’s dead body. They left me in my bloodied clothes and tormented me every hour of every day, and when they left me alone for the first time, I looked at that pregnancy test snapped in two by my feet. I looked at the faint little lines still visible, and started to cry. Because she was gone. Gabriel was gone. My freedom was gone. My future. Gone.

As I felt it all, I also forgot it all. Every memory that would lead me back to the Break was gone and I awoke with red hair in the darkened room of my prison with no memory of how I got there, no memory of Gabriel, no memory of the barn.

I stayed there until the day I heard Hendrix whistling at the end of the corridor.

∞∞∞

Tears fall fast and plenty as I sit in my wedding dress in Gabriel’s hotel room. I keep looking through the photos with the jumper, my book and the pregnancy in a neat pile on my lap. I was so close to having it all. So close to being safe and happy. Gabriel wanted the baby. He wanted me. We were going to Japan together. We were going to be a family. And for two years, he thought that I’d left him. That I had chosen Toby. And when he did see me again, I had no idea who he was. And he sacrificed us so I wouldn’t remember the trauma I suffered. He started all over again with me instead of putting me through the agony of the truth.

That’s why it never hurt when he touched me. Because deep down, I knew I could trust him.

I knew that I loved him. It was written into my DNA. A biological fact that will never change. As I clutch the pictures to my chest, Grayson stands and looks down at me.

‘What is all this?’ he demands, gesturing to the items I’m clutching. I glare up at him. In a swift move, he pulls the tape from my mouth. ‘Tell me what all this means!’

‘Fuck you,’ I snarl. ‘Go to hell.’

‘Tell me-’

‘I will never tell you anything. And you don’t have any way to make me talk so-’

Slap.

He walks away and stops by the chest to retrieve the final item inside. When he faces me, in his hand is a simple black box. He gives it a slight shake and I hear the rattle of my mother’s necklace.

Magic is right there. It’s right fucking there!

My fingers twitch.

Grayson opens the box and pulls out the necklace. It looks just as I remember it as he lets it dangle from its chain. The magic within it screams for me.

I lunge at him, sprinting as hard and as fast as I possibly can, praying to reach him before he notices. But Hendrix notices. I forgot he was here. His hulking arms wrap around my waist and I flail in his grip. If I could just touch the necklace, just for a second, I know I would have access to my magic and I know I could fight them off and return to Gabriel.

Grayson admires the jewel with satisfaction, before putting it back in the box and stowing it safely in his jacket pocket.

‘Now,’ Grayson sighs, returning his attention to me. ‘It’s time to go, Miss Hooper.’

‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’

Slowly, he stalks towards me, stopping inches from my body. He reaches out and runs his finger along my jaw. When I pull away, he grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. I hate him so much I want to tear his throat out with my teeth. With his free hand, he takes hold of my hip. I’m pinned between him and Hendrix. Both have their hands on me and the sensation is worse than acid. Grayson feels the material of my wedding dress and tuts.

‘This dress is not good enough for you,’ he whispers. ‘Much like the man you intended to wed. When we marry, you will be in the finest silk. I’ve always enjoyed my women in silk.’

‘If the day ever comes where you force me to marry you and I’m to wear something to match my groom, I’ll smear myself in dog shit. Even then, I’ll still be overdressed.’ He yanks me away from Hendrix and twists his fingers in my hair. His eyes flash with anger and his mouth forms a rigid line.

‘Hendrix. I need a moment alone with Miss Hooper. Go wait in the car, and here…’ Swiftly, he tosses the box containing my mother’s necklace to the vampire who catches it. ‘Keep this safe. We will be out shortly.’

‘Hendrix, please don’t leave me alone with him.’

I glance over my shoulder and see Hendrix lingering by the door. He looks between us, unconvinced that him leaving is the best thing to do.

‘Please.’ I mouth to him.

After a moment of hesitation, Grayson orders him to go once more.

And with a small bow, Hendrix leaves, closing the door behind him. Grayson tugs at my hair and forces me to look at him.

‘You will pay for running from me and for every insult you have shown me since I dragged you out of that cellar you would still be rotting in if -’

‘Hendrix found me. Not you.’

Anger overwhelms him. I see it explode within him before he seals one hand over my mouth as he lunges forwards, only stopping when I hit the wall. His body pins me there, his face in mine and my voice stolen. ‘You say another fucking word, I swear I will break your jaw, Lilly. I have taken all I am going to take. I have heard all I am going to hear and you will – ARGH!’

My teeth clamp down on his hand and I taste his blood in my mouth. As he pulls away, I spit a mouth-full of it all over his face. He stands there in stunned silence before slowly wiping it away.

‘Don’t touch me, you vile pig.’

His fist moves so fast I barely see it, but I certainly feel it as it strikes my face. I land face down and fail to get back on my feet. The room is spinning and dark spots blur my vision.

Grayson kneels beside me and takes hold of the little finger on my left hand.

‘You will show me respect.’

Snap.

I scream as he dislocates the bone. He then takes my next finger.

‘You will finish my spell. You will return magic to my Descendants and I will rule over them all, and take back our rightful place in this world. I will be the most powerful Coven Leader of all time!’

Snap.

‘GODDAMN IT, GRAYSON!’ I scream, trying to pull away. ‘STOP!’

As I yell, Grayson hoists me back up onto my feet. I sway and the room spins. He takes my weight and strokes the hair from my face.

‘And then, Miss Hooper, you will become the mother of my children. Just as you promised you would.’

‘Gabriel will kill you for this, if I don’t kill you first.’ I snarl back, hating that I have no choice but to sink into his frame. I can barely keep my head up and he pulls me in as if we are sharing an embrace.

‘No,’ he sighs, kissing the top of my head. ‘He won’t. Because to do that, he’ll have to find me. It’s just us now, Miss Hooper. You, me and Hendrix. I will not let you marry my brother. I will not let you leave me again.’ He looks down at me as I peer up. ‘You are so beautiful.’ And then I see it. He has a lustful look in his eyes as they glance over my bloody face. He gently drags his fingers through the mess of my hair before letting his fingers trail down my arm, then my hip, then he takes a firm hold of my backside. ‘You are mine,’ he whispers. ‘Your body and your magic, it all belongs to me, Arianna.’ The slip of his ex-wife’s name passes him by. ‘If you kiss me now, I will wait until after the spell is done to start our family.’ He leans a little closer. ‘Kiss me like you kiss Gabriel. Kiss me like you love me. And I will be kind to you from here on out.’

He steps closer. His nose rests by mine. His breath lands warm on my lips. His unwanted hand starts caressing me slowly. I press my bound hands on his chest and try to push him off. He’s as unmovable as a brick wall, but as I rest my palms on his chest, I feel something in his jacket pocket. I stop pushing, and gaze into his dark eyes. I force the revulsion and panic from my face and attempt to look seduced instead. I stop trying to get away, and lean into him. Into his touch. Into his arms.

‘I’ve always wondered…’ My lips brush his ever so softly. His breath catches.

‘What? What have you always wondered?’ he asks, smiling lustfully.

‘What it would be like…’ I stand on my tip toes and press my hips subtly into his, forcing my own version of a wanton smile. He starts walking forwards, pushing me back until I meet the wall. He lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist and nudging himself firmly between my thighs.

I lean in for his mouth. My eyes close and I feel his hungry and wanting lips on mine. As his mouth opens and his tongue glides between my lips, I slide my fingers inside his jacket. He’s so distracted with his obvious arousal and desperate want to kiss and touch me, he doesn’t notice. I open my eyes. He’s lost in the moment. Fully immersed in our kiss.

When I feel the cold steel between my fingers, I grab them and hold them. I bite his lip hard. He yells and drops me, staggering back a few steps and holding his bleeding mouth.

‘You bitch!’ He lunges at me with his fists clenched. I let him charge. When he’s close enough, I take the set of keys I stole from his pocket and stab him right in the fucking eye with a chunky Chubb. He screams as I push it further and further in, twisting it as I do. Blood spurts out and slides down my fingers, but I won’t let go. The thick grooves of the key grind against bone and whatever liquid is contained in an eyeball, oozes out.

I lean into his face. ‘I’ve always wondered what it would be like to gouge out one of your fucking eyes!’

His roars are full of anger and pain but he’s in so much agony he can’t get his thoughts in order. He just keeps trying to back away as I keep charging forwards, twisting it harder and harder. He grabs my hand and bends it back. I have no choice but to relinquish the grip I have on the keys and as soon as I do, he punches me hard in the face. I go down but I go down with a laugh. A split lip and a bruise is worth what I’ve just done to him. I look up as he slowly pulls the keys from the bloody mess in his face. It brings with it whatever remains of his left eye.

‘Well, that’s not going to heal, is it?’ I laugh hard. Tears in my eyes and ribs aching hard. He sprints forward and in a second he has me by my throat pinned to the wall.

‘You took my eye, you little bitch!’ Blood continues to trickle down the hole where his eye used to be. He’s pale and I know he must be in a hell of a lot of pain but his adrenaline is keeping him on his feet. And I suppose he heals fast, so the wound may already be mending. But that eye is gone for sure.

‘You will heal me.’

‘Sure thing. Just give me access to my magic, and I’ll get right on that.’

‘You will pay for this,’ he warns. ‘You are such a fool. You sacrifice so much for a man that will never remain faithful to you. You stand there in your second-hand wedding dress when I could have given you everything. The whole world. A loving marriage and more power, respect and wealth than you could have ever dreamed of, than any girl could have ever dreamed of. I was willing to look past all those scars and personality flaws because beneath it all, I still love you.’

‘I’m flattered,’ I gasp under his tight grip.

‘But you throw it all away, everything I could offer you, for a man-whore with pretty eyes and a sweet smile. You choose a man who can’t even father children when I could give you a family that would be more powerful than-’

‘I would never inflict on a child, the misery of having you as their father.’ His brow narrows with a twitch. ‘You make me sick, Grayson. You’re disgusting. You’re pathetic and worthless.’

‘Stop. Talking.’ He slams me into the wall and keeps me pinned by my throat.

‘Or what? You’ll kill me?’ I struggle to get my patronising laugh beyond his crushing fingers. ‘You took my magic.’ I shrug. ‘But I’ll get it back one day. I have taken your eye and I will never heal you. I have taken your home and turned it to rubble. I have taken your brother and soon, I will take your position as Coven Leader from you and ensure that every single Nomad knows exactly what kind of man you are.’

His chest starts to rapidly rise and fall. His whole face darkens.

‘You look mad.’ I tilt my head to the side and squint. ‘Your face is all fucked up so I can’t quite tell. Are you mad?’

‘You need to shut your mouth.’

‘You are as inadequate a man, as you are a witch, and you are a failure and an embarrassment as a Coven Leader. I know about your wife, Arianna, and your child. I know what happened to them during the war. They would be disgusted by you now. Repulsed. Ashamed. Thank God they never lived to see you become this…

.’

I see something switch in his mind. His whole body reacts to my words and I know in that moment, I’ve said too much. The look he adapts is exactly the same as Toby would get when he was pushed beyond his limit. A handful of times I saw it in my former lover. When he caught Ryan raping me and the bloodshed that followed. When he saw a man touch me in a club and slit his throat. When I told him I was in love with Gabriel, not him. And again, when he attacked me in the barn.

And now I see it in Grayson’s eyes too.

Sense and reason have gone.

He’s consumed by anger.

‘Inadequate?’ he jeers. ‘You think me inadequate?’ Blood still drips from his eye and the muscles in his jaw twitch. ‘A failure, hmm? An embarrassment? My wife and child would be ashamed, would they?’

He tosses me across the room and I land on the floor in a heap, coughing and gasping. I don’t waste a second, I get to my feet and run to the door. I get only two steps in before he has me again. Both his arms wrap around my waist and he lifts me clear off the floor. I scream and thrash as he carries me across the room.

‘You’re about to see just how inadequate I am,’ he hisses in my ear. ‘I’ll show you. You’ll see.’ His hand paws at my breast and he aggressively kisses my neck as he walks forwards. I continue trying to get free but he refuses to let go. The front of my legs hit the desk. I reach back with my bound hands and claw at his face. I feel his skin break beneath my nails as I drag them hard across his flesh. Fresh blood slides down the tips of my fingers, but that doesn’t stop him. He grunts and slams me face down onto the desk. His hand pins me down by the back of my neck. I continue to fight with everything I have as I fill with panic.

Not again. Not again! Please…

I let out the loudest scream I can muster. A high-pitched and terror filled cry, the force of which, burns my throat and tears at my lungs. It’s cut short when he lifts my head off the desk by a fistful of my hair, and whacks it hard three times into the wood.

My body goes limp. The room spins wildly around me and I think I’m going to vomit. White spots blur my vision and my words become slurred as I tell him to let me go.

‘You’ll love me,’ he snarls, kicking my legs apart as I try to regather my senses. ‘And I’ll love you.’ He lifts the hem of my wedding dress up to my waist. ‘As much…’ The sound of his belt being undone, followed by the lowering of his zip. ‘And as often…’ His fingers hook into the waist of my underwear. ‘And as ’ He slides them down my legs and leans down so his mouth is in my ear. His arousal is pressing into me. ‘As I want to.’

He stands up but keeps one hand flat on my back in case I try to move. But I can’t. It’s taking everything I have to keep conscious.

‘You are Arcane. Your Children will be children. Your magic. Your obedience and your body, belongs to . It was always going to, Miss Hooper.’

‘HENDRIX!’ I scream. If I can just scream loud enough, he’ll hear. He’ll come. I try to push myself up. But I’m too dizzy. Too uncoordinated. His hand holds me in place easily. He pushes my legs out when I try to close them.

‘I am more than fucking adequate, Miss Hooper. I’ll show you.’

‘Don’t!’

His fingers slide across my backside and then down. With a low, lustful moan, his fingers violate me.

‘HENDRIX!’ I scream as he starts moving them. Moaning and groaning as he tries to get my body ready for him. ‘HENDRIX, HELP ME! RAPE! RAPE!’

His body leans across my back as he rests his mouth to my ear. ‘No one will help you now,’ he says in a whisper. ‘It’s just us.’

In the corner of the room, the image of my Broken-self glimmers into existence, like a hologram, flickering to life. Just as she was in the pit at Dartmoor, with her bloody legs and deep welts in her wrists. Her ashen hair falls over her shoulders as she lingers, observing the scene before her with impassiveness. My eyes meet hers, and she grimaces at the tears sliding down my face.

she whispers.

Grayson pulls out his fingers and positions himself. ‘Now… let’s make a baby.’

The window explodes and glass showers us both. I hear an animalistic roar before Grayson is thrown across the room into the wall opposite and I slide to the floor.

After a second or two, Hendrix kneels beside me.

‘You’re alright, Little Witch,’ he says, gently picking broken bits off glass out of my hair. ‘He ain’t gonna touch ya again. I promise.’

‘Thank you,’ I whisper weakly. ‘Thank you, Hendrix.’

‘Well… I wouldn’t thank me yet.’ He stands and turns his attention to Grayson who is scrambling to his feet.

‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’ Grayson demands.

‘You aren’t to touch her.’ Hendrix shrugs. ‘I got my orders. Hurting the girl’s fine. But not fucking her.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Grayson laughs. ‘And whose orders are those?’

The door opens with a creak and someone walks in. ‘They would be my mine.’

I can’t move, but I know exactly who it is. The look of apprehension on Grayson’s face when he sees our sudden guest is well justified.

A fight breaks out between the three men. I hear it and the violence it creates. Furniture is destroyed. Bodies are hurled around the room. They yell, they laugh, they bleed. The knocks to my head have left me an unresponsive heap only capable of looking at the corner of the room where my Broken-self still lingers, watching the fight on my behalf. Each blink gets longer. The sounds around me start to muffle and the next time I open my eyes, the fight has ended. The mirage in the corner watches the victor head my way. The crunch of broken glass beneath feet gets louder and I’m struggling, really struggling, to remain awake. The feet stop close by my head and our eyes lock.

‘Oh, my dear sweet Red.’ Toby stands over me looking down with a sad and patronising look on his face. ‘What would you ever do without me, hmm?’ He crouches down and brushes the hair from my face. I don’t even have the strength to bat him away or to flinch. ‘He really beat the hell out of that noggin of yours, huh?’ His eyes glance over my body and he lowers my dress, covering my legs and giving me some modesty back. ‘Good job we got here when we did.’

‘W-we?’

Hendrix joins him and looks down at me.

‘She alright?’ Hendrix asks.

Toby eyes glint with mischievous delight. He spots the odd angles of my fingers and snaps them back into place, making me groan loudly in pain. ‘For now. But we better get her and Grayson nice and secure. Gabriel’s on his way. He’ll be here soon. You get him. I’ve got my girl.’

‘Sure thing, Boss.’

‘Hendrix? W-what…? The room is spinning even more and the edges of my vision are going black. ‘Don’t… Don’t let him take me. Please.’

‘Oh, Little Witch. Why would I stop him when I’ve spent the last few months trying so hard to reunite the two of you?’

‘W-what?’ I look up at him, confused and betrayed.

Hendrix is heading towards the unconscious heap that is Grayson. ‘You would have been with him much sooner, if the Nomads hadn’t been so effective at driving him away from the house on Christmas.’

‘Y-you let him in on Christmas night?’

Hendrix reaches down and picks up Grayson, tossing him over his shoulder with ease.

‘I was so impressed that you had the guts to follow me,’ Toby admires. ‘But then Gabriel showed up and I lost my chance to take you. When Hendrix called and told me Daddy-dearest had gotten ahold of you, I rushed at the chance.’ He trails his finger along my jaw. ‘But my girl was much stronger than I gave her credit for and you royally kicked my ass.’

It clicks. All in an instant. It was Hendrix that went to get Toby after I fought him at the Traitor camp. Hendrix said he was gone before he got there, but he must have helped him escape. I knew there was no way Toby could ever have walked away from what I did to him.

Hendrix laughs. ‘Ya were so busy checking all the Nomads thoughts, searching for a traitor, no one thought to check mine. Every time Grayson ordered one of your sessions I thought for sure he would get me looked at, that I would get caught, but his arrogance has always been his weakness. He never thought for a second I would betray him.’

‘Y-you killed Jade,’ I realise. I hadn’t sensed Toby at the house that night, it had to have been him.

‘It almost worked too. Grayson and Gabriel were hiding the gifts we was leavin’ ya. We had to get ya attention. Try and get ya outta the house. Ya got as far as the garden before lover-boy grabbed ya.’

‘I was waiting for you in the burnt-out orchard. I was so excited to see you again, but it just wasn’t meant to be.’ Toby busies himself with wiping blood from my face.

‘At the hotel, after I destroyed The Orchard, you were t-there when we discovered Ava’s… her invol…’ It’s getting impossible to speak, and my eyes are getting unbearably heavy.

‘I had to call her,’ Hendrix shrugs. ‘Tell her to get the hell outta there. She ain’t got your guts. Grayson would have broken her down and I would have been fucked.’

Of course it had to have been him. I hate myself for not seeing it sooner! Only Grayson, Gabriel, Collins, Hendrix and I knew we were going to the museum. No one else could have told Toby where to be and when. It was even Hendrix that come up with the idea to use Gabriel to compel the security guard to turn off the alarms. How could none of us see this!

‘All this time… you were Toby’s inside man? B-but… who shot Malcolm? Who tried to shoot me at the Traitor camp and hit G-Gabriel instead?’

‘Why, Ava…obviously,’ Toby laughs, shaking his head at my naivety. ‘She seems to think that my hobby of playing with you will get me hurt. Silly cow thought by killing you, she would save me and get me all to herself.’ He tuts and shakes his head. ‘She’s not a patch on you. You were perfect. So obedient and trusting. Ava occasionally thinks that she knows best. Such an unattractive trait in a woman. It was a shame Malcolm had to die. He was useful in that house. But he was going to talk. They always talk when Grayson gets asking.’ He lets out a content sigh before turning to Hendrix. ‘Have you got her Bloodstone?’ Toby asks him. ‘And her mother’s necklace?’

‘I sure do, Boss.’ He taps his pocket.

‘Good.’ Toby scoops me up in his arms. I groan in pain as he moves me. ‘Dump my big brother in the boot, Hendrix. We need to get out of here. If we hang about any longer, Gabriel will find us.’ Toby stands with me limp in his arms. His lilac eyes and half disfigured face are all I can see.

‘What do you want from me?’ I ask.

‘What I’ve always wanted from you, Red.’ He kisses my forehead and slides the tip of his nose along my jaw. He lets out a long and wanton breath. ‘Your absolute and unequivocal love, obedience and submission to my every whim and desire. And trust me when I tell you, that you will give it to me.’

My eyes are too heavy. The world is fading into nothing. Gabriel is coming. He’ll be here soon. If I can just stay awake! If I can just fight!

‘That’s it,’ Toby comforts. ‘Just let the pull of sleep take you.’

I see my Broken-self behind him, her eyes firmly on mine and Toby’s words echo in my ears.

‘I’ve got you now, Red. I’ve got you.’

My eyes close.

He’s got me.