LOGINRuelleI could do nothing but stare at Pierce with my mouth slightly open.He placed my feet on his lap and held my heel steady as he applied the ointment, starting with the cut near my ankle. After a few seconds, I pressed my lips together and drew in a sharp breath. My heartbeat was unsteady, skipping whenever the salve stung.Still, I could see that he was trying his best to be gentle. His touch was almost featherlight.When had Pierce become so careful with me?As I watched him, I noticed that he had changed his shirt while I was bathing. The one he had worn earlier had been black and stained with blood, but now he wore a deep burgundy shirt without a jacket or tie. The first two buttons were undone, and his face and arms had been cleaned.It was then that I remembered a question I had wanted to ask him since I moved into the Ashcroft estate.“How did you know I faked my death six years ago?”Pierce glanced at me but continued applying the ointment. He didn’t answer immediately.“
RuelleFor one suspended heartbeat, Pierce only stared at me.The lamp beside the bed illuminated one side of his face while leaving the other in shadow. With the dark ring still surrounding his amber irises, he looked unsettlingly similar to the man who had torn through Lowe’s mansion.“Come here.”My hesitation must have shown because the corner of his mouth lifted. He tapped the space beside him on the bed.“Don’t worry. I won’t bite.” His gaze traveled over me, slow enough to make heat crawl beneath my skin. “Not tonight.”I narrowed my eyes at him. Despite the healing bath, my wounds stung with every step. Still, I crossed the short distance without difficulty and sat beside him. I kept a careful space between us, though the bed dipped beneath his weight and made maintaining that distance more difficult.Pierce reached for a small glass jar on the bedside table.“The healer left this.”He unscrewed the lid, revealing a pale green ointment. Its sharp herbal scent reached me at onc
RuelleFortunately, it wasn’t long before we were out of sight of curious eyes.Pierce carried me past the reception area and into a private elevator at the end of the hall. No one joined us. The moment the doors closed, I lifted my face from his shoulder and drew a quiet breath.The elevator opened directly into a private recovery suite reserved for the Ashcroft family. It was larger than I expected, with a sitting area, a bedroom, and a bathroom separated by a tall wooden divider. Warm wall lamps illuminated the room, though shadows still gathered in the corners.A healer was already waiting.She asked Pierce to place me on the couch, then examined the wound on my head, checked my eyes for signs of a concussion, and inspected the worst bruises along my arms and legs. Her mouth tightened at the sight of them, but she asked no questions about what had happened.“The head injury isn’t severe,” she said. “She’ll have headaches and some dizziness, but there is no fracture. The cuts shoul
RuelleSilence settled between us after Pierce’s words.You have always been a survivor.I turned toward the rain-streaked window, uncertain what to say. No one had ever praised me for surviving before. They had praised my knowledge, my obedience, and sometimes my usefulness, but survival had always felt like the shameful thing I did in secret.Pierce made it sound like strength. His phone rang before I could gather an answer. Lawrence’s name appeared on the screen. Pierce accepted the call and switched it to speaker, placing the phone between us.“Report.”“Council investigators and city officers have arrived at Lowe’s estate,” Lawrence said. His voice remained as composed as ever. “Councilor Dylan is overseeing the scene.”Pierce’s expression didn’t change. “And what did you tell him?”“That I came to apprehend Lowe under your authority regarding the embezzlement case. His security resisted and attacked first, requiring the use of force. Lowe attempted to kill you while escaping cu
Ruelle“It’s all right. You’re safe now,” Pierce murmured, rubbing a slow hand over my back.His touch was careful, avoiding the places where the whip had struck me. Each gentle movement should have soothed me, yet it only made me cry harder.I didn’t know how long I remained pressed against his chest. The SUV moved steadily. Rain whispered against the windows, and the lights along the road passed in blurred streaks beyond the tinted glass.Pierce held me through it all.One hand rested against the back of my head, his fingers moving carefully through my tangled hair. The other remained around my shoulders, keeping me close without putting pressure on my injuries.His shirt smelled of rain, blood, and the strange cold smoke of his shadow fire. Beneath it all was the familiar scent that belonged only to him, one I had once found unsettling but now made me feel safe.When Pierce had entered Lowe’s study, he had looked like a creature dragged out of the darkest part of the otherworld. Hi
RuelleFor one brief moment, I thought it was over. Then Black fire gathered in Pierce’s palm. My breath caught. I recognized that darkness. It was the same power he had used to destroy the witch inside the illusion world, a flame that didn’t merely kill the body but consumed the soul with it.Lowe must have recognized it too.His eyes widened in terror. He tried to crawl away, but his broken limbs failed beneath him.Pierce caught him by the collar and pulled him closer.“No,” Lowe tried to say through the cloth. “Please.”Pierce showed no mercy.He pressed his palm against Lowe’s chest. Shadow fire flooded over the councilman’s body. The sound Lowe made hardly seemed human. His back arched as black flames crawled beneath his skin, consuming him from the inside. The air filled with the scent of smoke and something colder, something that reminded me of the endless darkness inside the illusion realm.Within seconds, his body began to break apart.Flesh, bone, and clothing collapsed







