A Heart Bound In Shadows

Chapter 10

Willow

There was darkness, but somehow, this darkness wasn't suffocating.

The first thing my consciousness slowly registered through the haze was the scent.

It wasn't the smell of stale beer, cigarette smoke, and mold assaulting my nose.

Instead, the air was filled with an incredibly clean, masculine fragrance. A deep, dense pine forest, the ozone before a storm, and a hint of raw spice.

It was a scent that spread an inexplicable sense of peace through my chest.

The second thing I noticed was the sensation beneath me.

It wasn't the thin mattress with its worn-out springs pressing against my back, and it wasn't the rough, fuzzy blanket scratching my chin.

I was lying on something unbelievably soft, cool, and silky, something that seemed to envelop my entire body.

It felt as though I had sunk into a cloud.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking.

The room was shrouded in dim light.

Only the silvery glow of the moon filtered through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, partially blocked by thick blackout curtains.

My brain struggled to piece together my surroundings.

I was in an enormous, elegant bedroom.

Expensive dark oak furniture, thick carpets, and a bed so large that I practically disappeared into it.

Where am I?

The answer struck me in a single, shocking flash.

The cafeteria.

The shove.

The pain on the floor.

And then... Jace.

The way he'd lifted me into his arms, the infirmary, then the dark blue SUV and Lexi's gentle voice.

You're coming with us.

My pulse skyrocketed in a single second.

I gasped for breath and instinctively tried to jump out of bed.

When I moved, my left thigh began throbbing, but somehow the pain was dull, as though I were feeling it through a thick layer of cotton.

The medication.

Terror wrapped around my lungs like an icy hand.

I started searching for lights beyond the windows.

It was dark.

It was evening.

Oh God, it's evening!

Victor!

If there was no dinner waiting at home, if he realized I hadn't gone to the café... if he flew into a rage and went to Aunt Sarah's house to take his anger out on Ellie...

"I have to go home!" A hoarse, desperate whisper burst from my throat as I kicked the heavy comforter away.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, even though my bruised thigh immediately protested.

"I told you at the hospital that you're never going back there."

The voice came from the darkest corner of the room.

Deep, dark, and utterly emotionless.

I froze.

Only then did I notice the enormous leather sofa hidden among the shadows and the man sitting on it.

Jace slowly leaned forward, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his face.

He was wearing the same black T-shirt, his dark hair falling messily across his forehead.

He sat leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees, like a predator that had been silently watching its prey for hours.

His emerald-green eyes seemed to glow even in the dim light, staring directly into mine.

"You've been asleep for hours," Jace continued, rising slowly with an almost threatening lack of urgency. "Dr. Miller's medication knocked you out."

As he approached, I instinctively tried to retreat across the bed, drawing my knees toward my chest.

His mere presence seemed to fill the enormous room.

"Please..." My voice trembled, and tears tightened my throat. "You don't understand. Let me go! If I don't get home before he wakes up... if he doesn't find me there..."

"Then what happens?" Jace interrupted.

His voice suddenly hardened, every trace of softness disappearing.

He stopped beside my bed.

"He beats you? Leaves more bruises on your legs? Or throws you against the wall?"

I flinched as though he'd struck me.

How did he know?

"Don't do this..." I whispered as my tears finally spilled over. "You're rich. You guys do whatever you want at school. You don't know what my world is like. He doesn't hurt me, he... he just..."

"Don't lie to me!" Jace thundered.

The words erupted from him with such sudden, raw force that I screamed in fright and curled into a ball, throwing my hands over my head to protect myself.

A deathly silence settled over the room.

All I could hear was my own terrified, ragged breathing.

I waited for the blow.

I waited for his enormous hand to grab me and drag me off the bed, just like Victor always did.

But instead, I heard something entirely different.

Jace cursed under his breath, releasing a muffled, desperate sound.

Then the mattress dipped beside me.

"Look at me, Willow," he whispered.

His voice was so gentle, so pleading, that I could barely believe it belonged to the same boy.

Trembling, I slowly lowered my hands from my face and opened my eyes.

Jace was sitting on the edge of the bed, barely a few inches away from me.

His expression was filled with pain and tension.

His large, powerful hands rested on his own thighs, and he was visibly struggling not to touch me, afraid of frightening me again.

"Never," he said, pronouncing every word slowly and deliberately as he looked straight into my eyes. "Never in my life would I raise a hand against you. Do you understand? I would rather cut off my own arm than cause you pain. That monster you want to go home to has made you believe that men are only capable of hurting you. But I'm not him."

His words pierced my soul with such force and pure sincerity that my breath caught in my throat.

The green fire in his eyes no longer wanted to destroy.

It wanted to protect.

No one had ever spoken to me like that before.

No one had ever looked at me as though I were something precious.

"He wouldn't hurt me..." I finally whispered, broken, as tears silently streamed down my cheeks.

The secret I'd guarded for so long began spilling from my lips because somehow, the strength radiating from Jace was breaking down my walls.

"If I don't obey... if I run away... he said he'll go after Ellie."

Jace frowned.

"Who's Ellie?"

"My little sister." I swallowed hard, my throat aching from crying. "She's four years old. She's staying with my aunt. Victor, my stepfather... he's our legal guardian. He can take her away whenever he wants. I've been saving money so we can escape one day, but if I don't go home now... he'll take his revenge on her. Please, Jace. I can endure anything. But he can't hurt her."

The muscles in Jace's face tightened.

His entire body became like a statue carved from stone.

Something dark swirled around the green irises of his eyes, and a very low, almost inhuman growl vibrated deep within his chest.

When he finally spoke, his voice was icy and deadly.

"Victor. That's his name?"

I nodded, terrified of his reaction.

Jace slowly rose from the bed.

His enormous figure filled the room once again, but now it was obvious that his anger wasn't directed at me.

"Listen to me, Willow. Ellie is safe. Your aunt is safe. And you're safe."

"How could you possibly know that?" I sobbed. "He's a monster! You don't know him!"

"And you don't know me," Jace replied.

There was such arrogant yet reassuring power in his voice that it immediately silenced me.

"In this part of town, I'm the monster. No one can enter your streets without me knowing about it. No one will lay a hand on your sister. I'll make sure their house is guarded twenty-four hours a day."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Guarded? By who? With what money? I can't afford..."

Jace smiled faintly, but the smile never reached his eyes.

"Don't worry about the money. I have people. Your job right now isn't to survive. Your job is to heal."

Before I could say anything else, Jace walked over to a small table in the corner of the room and picked up a tray covered with a silver lid.

He returned to the bed and placed it on my lap.

"Lexi brought this up while you were sleeping. It's warm. And you're going to eat it."

Slowly, I lifted the lid.

The scent of freshly roasted meat with garlic, steaming mashed potatoes, and cooked vegetables hit my nose with such force that my stomach immediately growled, loudly and painfully.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen food like this.

Victor always left me nothing but scraps or dry bread.

Even at the café, I could only secretly eat orders that had been prepared incorrectly.

My mouth watered, but my hand trembled as I reached for the fork.

"Is all of this... for me?" I whispered in disbelief.

Jace sat down on the edge of the bed again, but this time closer.

"All yours. And if it's not enough, I'll bring you more. Eat, Willow."

The first bite felt as though life itself had returned to my body.

The flavors, the warmth...

I involuntarily closed my eyes, and a tiny sound of satisfaction slipped from my lips.

When I opened them again, I saw Jace watching my every movement.

His gaze burned into me, his jaw tightening as I swallowed the food.

It was almost as though being able to feed me gave him some deep, instinctive satisfaction.

I ate slowly and quietly.

Although guilt and terror over Victor still gnawed at my mind, Jace's promise...

Jace's mere presence somehow dulled the panic.

This boy, who was the leader of the untouchable elite at school, was now sitting here in the darkness, silently guarding me while I ate.

When my plate was almost empty, Jace suddenly reached out without any warning.

The air froze in my lungs.

His fingertip gently brushed across my split lower lip, barely touching it as he wiped away a tiny drop of gravy.

His touch once again sent that hot, electric shock through me.

His thumb remained beneath my chin.

He didn't grip me tightly.

He simply held my face, making me look into his green eyes.

"You will never have to go hungry again," he whispered, the intensity radiating from his gaze almost burning me alive. "You will never have to be invisible again. You're in my home, Willow. And I'm never letting you go."

His words sounded like both the most beautiful promise and the most terrifying cage.

But as I sat there inside his gilded cage, surrounded by the protective darkness of a predator, for the first time in my life...

I didn't want to run away.