The front door opened.
I turned on the third step and my chest did a ridiculous little somersault at the sight of Thrax standing in the doorway in his coat, head bowed as he closed the door. He raised his gaze to me, and those bottomless eyes swept over me slowly—the way he always did—before settling, and I felt something in my throat loosen.
I rushed down the stairs, going on my tiptoes as I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in the hollow of his throat. “Good morning,” I said into him.
His hands closed around me, soft at first, then firm, and he pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “Tell me you just woke up.”
I pulled back and grinned, my heart a restless thing in my chest. “Do you do this every day? Sneaking off while I’m still asleep?”
“Since you came back? No. Just today.” He peeled off his gloves.
I glanced at his palms, expecting the familiar healed scars, but there were none. I looked up at him, curious. “Where did you go?”
“Searching for Winifred. Figured it’s high time he got fucked up.”
“Why?”
He cocked his head like the answer to the question was obvious. “Why do you think? You don’t think I’m going to let him live after what he did to you, do you?”
I blinked at him.
“The only reason I didn’t kill him that day was because you called my name. After I brought you home, I couldn’t find it in me to leave you alone again. And I couldn’t bring myself to leave your side ever since. Also, when you left some days ago, I couldn’t think of anything else but how to bring you back here. Let’s just say this is the only time I’ve been able to spare for the bastard.”
“You can’t kill or harm anyone in Nimorran.” Only after the words left my mouth did I realise how pointless they sounded.
Thrax chuckled without humour. “I’m already experiencing the highest damage Nimorran could ever cause a person.”
Yeah...the cold could not kill him. And even though killing Winifred might killhim, I was sure he would accept his death, the one he’d always wanted, with open arms.
“I saw him a few days ago.”
Thrax stepped back, scanning my face. “Where?”
“At his place. He was getting into a car with the help of another man. They seemed in a hurry.”
“He’s up to something.” His jaw worked. “Did he say anything to you? Try to touch you?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t touch me. He only said nonsense.”
His dark eyes hardened. “What nonsense?”
“That I should go with him. He said I was going to end up dead.”
He let out a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before straightening. “I’m going to burn him.” The words spilled like venom, and his whole expression changed.
When he left me and started making his way to the stairs, the words I’d been caging in my chest clawed their way out before I could stop them, the timing too perfect to let slip.
“What if I did?” I said quietly in the space.
He froze mid-step, every line of his back going stiff. The muscles beneath his clothes locked, shoulders rigid. For a long second he didn’t turn, didn’t breathe, as though he needed the world to steady before he faced me.
Then, slowly, he looked at me, his brows cutting together. “Did what?” His voice was flat, but I could feel something else beneath. “Go with him?”
I swallowed hard, throat tight. “Gave you. What if I—”
“I fucking told you not to eventhinkabout it.” His tone darkened, darker than I’d ever heard, his face warping into rage, like even the thought of it had flipped his entire being inside out. “Don’t you even try.”
“But I’m just—”
