Page 56 of Wrath of the Fae

‘Want me to get her out of here?’ he asks quietly.

‘No. It’s fine.’

He stands and offers me a slight bow.

‘I’ll think about what you said, Wolf. Thank you for being honest with me.’

‘My pleasure.’

He leaves, giving Tessa a disapproving shake of his head as he passes.

I kick out the chair Wolf just left and gesture for her to sit.

She snorts and heads over, slumping into it before swigging heavily from the bottle.

I hold my hand out, and she gives it to me so I can take my own healthy helping. The warmth of it slides down my throat and hits my belly. I feel the effects of it straight away.

Fae wine. It’s something else.

She swiftly snatches it back, fearing I’ll drink it all, and slumps back in the chair, cradling it to her chest.

‘What happened between you and Ezra?’ I ask.

‘What did Lucca say to you?’

‘Nothing. I saw you and Ezra in the room beneath the cellar. I heard what he said. I know I’m the last person you want to talk to about it, but you can.’

Her eyes fill with shimmering tears as she presses her lips together. Desperately, she tries to hold in tears and drinks heavily from the bottle to do so.

‘How is my husband?’ she asks through the strain in her throat. Every word drips with hatred.

‘Gone. He left me again.’

She laughs, enjoying the pain she hears in my voice.

‘Not a nice feeling. Being used and discarded. Being abandoned for another whore.’ She looks me up and down with a malicious sneer before swigging again. ‘I guess fidelity and loyalty aren’t his strong suit.’

I tense as I fight the urge to tell her to shut up. I know she hates me. But I also know she’s in pain. I can hazard a guess at what Ezra did to her. It’s not for me to push. She might try and shove that bottle down my throat if I even attempt to.

‘He hurt you badly?’

‘Want graphic details? Something to get you excited for your next romp with my husband?’

Her words are full of spite, yes. But I see her pain. I see the damage Ezra has done to her. I know that look. I saw it for years in the mirror. It’s a scar of the soul. One put there by the brutality of a man who took what he wanted and found ecstasy in the degradation and suffering he inflicted.

‘Tessa. When we catch Ezra, which we will, he’s all yours.’

Her eye flicks up to mine.

‘If you want me to, I will help you peel the skin from his bones. I will hand you the knife to sever his dick. I will wipe the blood from your brow as you take your revenge.’

She looks at me. That hard stare is still firmly in place, but her lip trembles. She blinks, and a single tear slides down her cheek.

‘I will make sure you get to make him pay for everything he did to you. And if you decide to kill him or want someone else to make him pay, consider it done. Whatever you need.’

‘You swear it?’

‘On my life.’ I reach out my hand, placing it on the table between us. I wriggle my fingers for her, and she places her hand in mine. ‘I swear to you. When we catch Ezra, his fate will be yours and only yours. I will not allow anyone to intervene in whatever you wish to do to him. And if you want my help in your revenge, you shall have it. No questions.’

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