My mum was still at work, but my grandparents gathered around me, steady and unyielding. They reminded me who I was.
I was a Tolera.
???
My dad began researching who Blaidd Prothero was while I split my time between my legal team and restructuring our logistics—new suppliers, alternative routes, contingency plans.
My lawyers worked to ensure I could sever existing contracts without fault and reviewed every new agreement I could secure. Nothing would be rushed. Nothing sloppy.
I still didn’t know why Blaidd Prothero had singled me out, but it no longer mattered.
The only thing that made me smile was the memory of my homemade pepper spray burning in his eyes.
That sound—his roar, thick with rage and pain—sustained me.
He tried to cage me, and I struck back.
It might not end that way again—I’d had the advantage of surprise this time.
He was a heartless monster dressed in civility.
That was nothing new.
Chapter 11
Blaidd
The pain was instant—searing through my eyes, my vision exploding into white heat. Tears poured down my face as my body tried to flush the substance out. Fenrir’s fury slammed beneath my sternum, a violent pulse that made it hard to breathe.
My useless guards shoved fucking napkins at me as if that would help.
“Get me to my doctor,” I snapped, blinking blindly,“and bring cold water. Now.”
I tried to focus—tried to find her through the blur.
“She ran, sir,” one of the twats said, gripping my arm.
Like a fucking invalid, I was guided into the car. Another bottle of water was pressed into my hand. I didn’t dare tip my head back yet—didn’t trust myself not to make it worse.
Oh, that bitch would pay.
She would pay dearly.
She thought she could survive.
No one survived me.
Even with Fenrir’s healing blood flooding my system, the pain lingered—raw and relentless. Pepper spray was illegal, but she was a chemist. Any lethal capsicum with a high Scoville rating would’ve done the trick. If not for Fenrir, I could be fucking blind.
I forced myself to douse my eyes, again and again, blinking through agony until blurred shapes finally emerged.
Relief came in fragments.
Rage, whole.
I would burn her in ways she couldn’t imagine.
Water streamed down my face, my neck, soaking my shirt and ruining the suit as I rinsed again.
