Page 5 of When Bones Whisper
“Stop!” she screamed into his mouth, but her actions only seemed to spur him to go harder. With a grunt, she lifted her knee and slammed it as hard as she could between his legs.
He stumbled back, hands clasped over his groin, eyes bulging.
All it took was one look, a glare that turned cold and empty as a void, and she knew she had to run.
It wasn’t the first time she had seen murder in a man’s eyes.
The world spun around her as he chased her, shouting her name with spittle that sprayed across the back of her shoulder. She grabbed the doorknob, twisting it in time to creak the door open an inch, but was wrenched back before she could escape.
Air whooshed from her lungs, her back thudding on the hard floor, her eyes dazed, unfocused on the ceiling above.
His sharp features twisted with something dangerous as he straddled her.
“Please stop!” she screamed, clamping her eyes shut in time to feel his fist connect with her cheek.
A high-pitched sound rang in her ears, and blood coated her tongue and teeth. The floorboards pounded the back of her head as he punched her a second time.
Tears slid into her hair, and she covered her face with her hands when he slammed his fist against her trembling fingers, prying them apart.
“Don’t!” she screamed again, twisting her torso to the side, but his legs locked her in place. “William, please,” she spluttered when he dove for her throat.
She blocked his hands with her forearms, forming a cross over her neck.
“You will not deny me what is mine!” he yelled, pressing her arms against her own throat, his strength easily overpowering hers. She turned her face in time to feel a spray of spit hit her cheek.
Repressed sobs quaked her chest as she tried desperately to bury them, her entire body shaking. “Y-yes,” she stuttered. “I know. I am yours.”
“You are lucky to have me!” he yelled, pushing her down harder.
“I know,” she lied, her stomach knotting as she forced her expression to soften despite the pain throbbing through her cheek and eye. “It is only that I wish to remain pure before our wedding. I’m sorry, please. What will society think if they see me with bruises?” she added, and he sneered.
With a twitch of his sharp nose, he pushed down on her one last time before standing.
She turned onto her side, cradling her throat as she tried so hard not to cry. It would only anger him, but every breath was a struggle. She couldn’t stop shivering, and the more she tried to control it, the worse it would get.
“Clean yourself up,” he said, temporarily pausing over her with a solemn expression, as if he might have regretted hitting her.
She nodded, but once she heard the door slam shut, and his footsteps had faded to a safe distance, she let out a wail into her palms to muffle the sound. Tears flooded her eyes, snot poured from her nose, each sob wrenching her chest.
Slowly, she climbed onto her knees, barely able to catch her breath. She wretched hard, her throat dry and aching as vomit crept into her mouth. Fluids leaked over her closed lips, and she wiped them away with the back of her sleeve.
She ghosted her fingers over her throbbing cheek and swollen lip, a cry quaking her entire torso. William knew what had happened to her sister, how she had been strangled to death just two rooms down from where she lay.
With a grunt, she stood slowly, her legs wavering beneath her weight, forcing her to collapse against a wall. She stared at the floorboards now painted with a spray of her blood.
Everything around it faded from her vision. Her mind emptied, and all other sounds muted until she shook her head and blinked twice.
Her chest quaked when she spotted her black cat standing on the ledge of the window. He darted across the furniture, his paws pattering over the mahogany dresser, before jumping into her arms.
“You were right to leave early,” she cried against his neck, her tears dropping onto his fur. Her eyes closed when Duke’s pawlanded on her cheek, his second meow rising an octave. “It is okay. I am okay.”
He nuzzled into her neck, as if sensing the lie. Holding him close to her chest calmed her enough that her full-body shudders turned into infrequent shivers. She glanced at the door while running her thumb over Duke’s head, tucking back his ear. “I’m going to do it tonight, Duke,” she said. “I’m going to lock them both away and they can never hurt us again. We’ll get our home back and it will just be us.”
He purred against her chest. Murder was not something she ever wanted to consider, but she had no choice. Once they were imprisoned in that mirror, she could never let them out. A body could not survive long without a soul and if she ever tried to undo it and let them out, she’d have to release all the evil inside and God only knew what was in there.
After all, her mother’s family had kept it hidden for centuries for a reason.
Chapter Two
