Page 24 of Liar
“I didn’t … I didn’t mean … is he dead?” I whisper through cold, numbed fingers.
“No.” Jaxon removes his hand from Zeke’s neck. “But he needs medical attention.”
Obviously. Hysterical laughter bubbles up in my throat. I swallow it down so hard, it comes out as a garbled yelp. Jaxon turns back to me, arching a brow.
“Will he be all right?” I rasp out.
“I’m a doctor.” A silver-haired man, his face handsomely lined, steps forward, separating himself from the circle that’s become suffocatingly close. “Bring him into one of the empty mausoleums. I’ll see to him there.”
A couple of viscounts, Mr. Murray included, crowd around Zeke, elbowing me farther out of the way. Cold air drifts over my shoulders, spiking the hairs on my skin the more distance I gain from Zeke. As they start untying him from the chair, I look for Savannah over the tops of their heads.
She’s shrouded by her father, protecting her with a thick arm around her shoulders and talking softly into her ear. Savannah shudders, her hands crossed over her chest as she struggles to breathe. Zeke’s blood drips down her forearms.
Watching her jolts me out of my fugue. I look down at myself, at the splashes of blood against my dress, a vivid red cutting through the ivory.
A sound rushes into my ears. My own breaths escalate.
“Don’t lose it. Not now.” The voice travels into my ear, the low vibration of it managing to pull me away from the brink.
It’s followed by a tight grip on my arm. I angle my head, though I know who it is. I always do.
Thorne holds me steady, his vise-like grip the only indication of emotion as he stares blandly toward his father.
Damion stands with three other dukes, all of them muttering to Damion and gesturing. Damion glances up, meeting my eyes. My insides shrivel underneath his cold, predatory focus. But the only physical reaction he’ll get from me is the slight slackening of my jaw as I stare back.
Damion jerks his hand up, cutting the men off. He breaks from their group, striding toward me.
“Attention!” he booms. The room immediately quiets.
Damion does a slow spin, sweeping his gaze across all members, then Savannah, her dad, me, and Thorne.
“My peerage argues at the timing of Mr. Aiden’s blackout,” he says. “And whether it occurred during Savannah’s ministrations. If that is the case, then Ember preyed upon an unconscious individual, thereby nullifying her attempts at maintaining her title as a Virtue.”
“Bullshit.”
Damion raises his brows at Thorne. “Did I say something to upset you, son?”
“You know as well as I do that Zeke was awake when Ember brought down her first blow.”
The flatness of Thorne’s tone causes a shudder to run down my spine. He tightens his hold in warning, but it’s difficult to stay strong when they’re arguing whether you beat someone while they were conscious or not.
I just needed it to stop. I couldn’t watch Savannah succumb to her demons for another minute. The fragile, skittish girl I’d met in the crypt was gone. In her place was a ravaged woman who wanted to hurt as much as she’d been hurt.
I didn’t recognize Savannah circling Zeke, salivating over the thought of maiming him.
I don’t recognize myself.
Aurora adds, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Ember cheated. That seems to be her MO.”
Damion doesn’t spare her a glance. “As you are no longer princess, your opinion doesn’t matter anymore, Miss Emmerson.”
I brace for Aurora’s tantrum, or at the very least, a snide, jealous glare directed at Savannah, but nothing comes. Aurora’s shoulders slope as she retreats into the comfort of her friends, Belle and Delaney, who each squeeze one of her hands in support.
My heart sinks at the sight. Aurora’s a vile human being, yet even she has friends.
“I propose a tie,” Thorne says.
I jerk my head up.