Lahat ng Kabanata ng Her thirst for vengeance: Kabanata 861 - Kabanata 870

Ivonne's povCan you prove this to us?" I asked. "Can you honestly prove to us that you aren't just lying to save yourself?"Justin looked at me for a moment, then he nodded. "I can," he said. "Follow me."He led us through corridors I had never been in, into a part of the palace that Hector, when I glanced at him, confirmed with a small shake of his head that he had never seen before either.The architecture changed gradually as we went deeper , newer stone giving way to older, the ceilings lowering, the natural sunlight replaced by a different kind of illumination that seemed to come from the walls themselves, faint and cool and ancient.Justin stopped at a section of wall that looked identical to every other section of wall, pressed his palm flat against a specific stone, and traced a symbol I couldn't follow with his fingers. Something in the wall responded, not loudly, or dramatically, just a deep click and the sense of something valuable unlocking that had been locked for a very

Ivonne's povMarcellus was quiet for a moment. "I thought we might discuss the terms —""There are no terms," I said. "You have already received everything you're going to receive from us, a room, a bed, protection, food, and the guarantee that we will not hand you back to the people who tried to kill you. The vow release is not a separate negotiation. It is the beginning of your usefulness, which is the only thing keeping you in this room instead of back in that cell. The only reason we didnt demand for you to break the vow sooner is because Lycan vows are tricky and we needed to make sure you were actually going to be honest and not trying to play us, but make no mistake, now that we are certain that you have zero leverage over us, we will not hesitate to feed you back to your beloved master if you try to do anything funny."Marcellus looked at me for a long moment and Something moved across his face that was not quite the calculation I expected... It was something more like genuine

Ivonne's pov "By the way, thank you for sending her to me; she has been very... useful." He grinned, and I felt hot fury take over my body. "Let her go," I snarled in anger. "In a moment," he said pleasantly. "First... I want you to hear something, because I think you have been operating under a misapprehension about my intentions toward you." He tilted Chelsea's head slightly. "I don't want you dead, Ivonne. I have never wanted you dead. Every time someone in my organisation has moved against you, it has been against my specific instruction, which tells you something about how well I manage my people, but that is a separate problem." He paused. "I want you strong. Completely, fully, uncompromisingly strong. And you are not there yet." "I'm strong enough to kill you if don't leave Chelsea's body now," I said. He just laughed at me. "You are only strong enough to survive little girl," he said. "That is not the same thing as being powerful. You hold back constantly, you pull yo

Ivonne's povHer hand went slack in mine, and she was gone. Chelsea was dead.Hector made a sound that I felt in my own chest like something was fracturing inside him.He pulled her closer, with his face pressed into her hair, his whole body shaking with grief that had nowhere else to go and wasn't trying to find anywhere to stay.I sat beside them in the quiet garden and held Chelsea's hand until it was cold, and the tears ran down my face without pause, and none of us spoke.Eventually I stood.I didn't know how much time had passed. Long enough that the garden had gone completely still, long enough that the sounds of fighting had faded and my friends had gathered at a respectful distance, giving us the only thing they could give us right now which was space and silence.Thorin was among them, standing slightly apart from the others the way he always did, his expression doing something complicated that he wasn't trying very hard to conceal. Sevrin had his arm around Denise, who was

Ivonne's povI stared at him. "What is the right question?""Ask her why she agreed to this," he said simply. "Not why she hates you. Not why she did the specific things she did. Ask her why she agreed to any of it in the first place, and what he gave her in return." He folded his hands in his lap. "The answer will tell you a lot of things the bind prevents me from saying."I sat with that for a moment, turning it over, feeling it connect to other things."Call Leo and Sevrin in," Hector said, to someone at the door. "Marcellus — you're going to describe the facility layout in as much detail as you have. Everything you know about the approach, the interior, the guard rotation, the position of the ritual room." He looked at me. "And you're coming with me.""Hector —""You need to rest," he said, in the voice that wasn't asking. "The baby needs you to rest. Leo and Sevrin can handle the debrief, and I will review everything they gather before we decide anything." He looked at me steadil