He grabbed the branch and tore it from her hands, sending it flying away. Then he hit her with enough force to knock her to the ground.
Justina launched herself at him, jumping on his back. She ran the dagger across his neck, slicing deep. “My father taughtmehow to use this pig poker,” she whispered into his ear.
He reached for her, but she leapt from his back. He whirled to her, blood gushing down the front of his stained tunic. He stumbled, grasping his throat, before toppling forward like a felled tree.
Justina stood over him, watching as the final throes of death shook his body. She felt a morbid satisfaction watching the life drain from him. It felt better that he was not taking a breath, that he was not wasting air by living.
But it didn’t bring Adam back. Adam. She turned to her brother. He lay on his back; his arms open as if calling to her for a hug. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t go to him. The anger, the hate did not make him rise to his feet. It hadn’t brought him back. She threw back her head, staring through the leaf dotted sky. Anguish consumed her, filling her body. She wanted to scream and shout and... cry. He wasn’t coming back. Nothing could bring him back.
She was supposed to take care of him. Just like her father. She was supposed to take care of them. She should have watched Adam. Helped him. Disgust consumed her. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t take care of Adam and she couldn’t take care of her father. She couldn’t protect them. An anguished cry bubbled in her throat.
A groan sounded from behind her. She whirled to see Aurora sitting up. Fury erupted inside of Justina. Her father’s murderer’s wife! How could she kiss the assassin? How could she bear to be near the killer? How could she love him? And yet, Adam had fallen beneath her spell, too. Contempt and loathing churned within her. Adam would never have been here if it wasn’t for Lady Aurora!
Justina stepped toward Aurora. “I hate you!” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I hate you for being so beautiful. So kind. So...stupid!” She swiped a sleeve across her face. She signaled behind her at Adam with a swipe of her arm. “This is your fault.” She lifted the dagger high above her head to end Aurora’s life.
