Page 256 of Coal Hearts

I wailed.

I screamed.

I purged every cut and siphoned every droplet.

I couldn’t suppress Henri’s relief at being free.

Couldn’t forget the change in him or the loss at his downfall.

All my hate.

All my worry.

All my fear and pain and terror poured out of my eyes and all over the floor.

I cried and cried.

I cried into dawn.

I cried into hell.

I kept crying until...I couldn’t cry at all.

Chapter Four

...............................

Henri

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I BASKED IN THE SUNRISE.

With an unlit cigar in one hand—courtesy of Victor after our perfectly rare-cooked steak—and a glass of rich merlot in the other, I bathed in the brilliant colours of nature.

Spools of gold crept over the horizon, followed by the intoxicating flush of a well-delivered bruise: purples and blues, followed by shades of reds and streaks of pain.

I sipped the wine, comparing the tart richness of grapes to the earthy rapture of Ily’s blood and...I waited.

I didn’t light the cigar.

I didn’t shift from where I sat in the grass. The manicured green perfection cushioned me like the thickest, softest carpet.

After my five a.m. dinner with Victor, he’d retired to bed, and I’d strolled outside for some fresh air. Every mouthful of our shared celebration had been divine. Every swallow stayed exactly where it was supposed to.

The meat soaked up the rest of the alcohol, slowly bringing me down from the savage high of monster-hood, hovering me somewhere in the middle of human and beast.

I’d waited for shame. For disgrace and self-reproach, but so far...nothing.

I didn’t wonder what’d become of Ily.

Didn’t think of my brother or how he’d kill me.

My mind was empty, blissfully empty.

And I hoped it would stay empty.

But...just in case it didn’t, I wanted to be on my own.