Page 107

He lifts his weapon. The gun is steady in his grip.

Looking down the length of the barrel, Zevran’s voice cuts across Troy’s whimpering.

“Get on your fucking knees.”

32

Zevran

Iput the gun to Troy’s forehead and watch him wet himself.

It would be so easy. One pull, and Cora is free of him forever. But I step back and nod to Ivan, who binds Troy’s hands behind his back. I have questions for Troy, and he’s going to answer them.

For now, I holster the gun.

Cora is crouched against the steel cabinet in the corner, small, pale, and shivering on the concrete.

My knees hit the floor in front of her, sending a jolt through my aching ribs.

Up close, the damage is worse than I first thought. Dried blood crusts the side of her neck and has soaked into her dress. But it’s her wrist that makes my jaw clench. The plaster cast is split down the center, stamped with a muddy boot print.

Rage spikes through my chest.

Cora stares at me, her green eyes wide, the same way she looked at me in that dank, dirty basement where we first met. Like she’s unable to believe I’m real.

I reach out, taking her face in both hands.

“Let me see,” I murmur, turning her head with deliberate care. Left. Then right. She’s got a gash at the back of her head. Her lashes are wet. Her lips are trembling as she fights back tears. I run my thumb over her cheek.

“Where else do you hurt, printsessa?”

“My wrist,” she whispers. “Troy—”

She breaks off. I look again at the muddy print on her cast. Troy is going to pay for every second of her hurt.

“It’s okay now. You’re okay,” I tell her, reassuring her as much as I’m reassuring myself. “I have you now. You’re safe.”

Her chin gives a tiny tremble.

“Zevran, I’m so sorry.” The words spill out of her. “I shut the car door in your face. You were trying to explain, but I was hurting, and I—I—”

“Cora.” I turn her face up to mine, keeping my gaze locked on hers. “It’s okay.”

“But I—”

“Cora.” I wait until she blinks, her shallow breathing hitching in her throat. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“But I shut you out.”

“And I walked into a room full of your friends and treated you like one of my assets instead of the woman I love.” The words drag up my throat, rough and heavy. “And then I drove you straight into a trap. I was so blinded by fear that I hurt you.”

“I thought you were dead,” she cries. “I saw the car plow into you. I heard that horrible sound. Troy said—he said you were trapped, that you burned alive. I started to believe him. I thought nobody was coming. That I wasn’t worth—”

“Don’t.” I lean closer and whisper fiercely, “Don’t you dare finish that thought.”

She lets out a shuddering breath, her hand reaching up to cover mine.

“Look at me.” I wait until her eyes meet mine. The pain in my side throbs, but I force myself to stay perfectly steady for her. “I was—”