Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 78 - Last Month

Adam

I watched my children sleeping peacefully that night, glad Jadea reached out. Our conversation had put me mostly at ease. We still had work to do, but that was expected.

What kept me up though, was the information Lance mentioned. And I didn't know why, but I had this gut feeling they put Aidan and Anika as her triggers. She would never think they would be used in such a way because she had never drank their blood. And yet, they were two of the closest individuals she held near and dear to her heart. It was an ingenious plan, especially if Silas's plan had gone accordingly. She would never have gotten close enough to them to trigger anything.

Tomorrow, before I left, I would explain to them I needed a vial each of their blood to help their momma. After returning to Ulysses' mansion, I would present them to her. I prayed it worked. I wasn't sure who else's blood would break through the spell.

A gentle caress of my mind pulled me out of my thoughts. Closing my eyes, I reveled in her touch.

"Baby girl?"

"Are you available?"

"Yes." I said, already knowing why she was reaching out. Sneaking away to the basement room, I sat down, preparing for the scene ahead. I had this gut feeling she would want to press on, despite everything. She was always the go-getter.

"Caden's strung me up. We are ready for the next scene," she breathed gently.

Good.

"I'll let--"

"I want you to ask the questions, sir," she interrupted.

This would prove to be a bit of a challenge, not being able to see her physical cues. "Okay," I relented. Easing into Caden's mind, I would be relying on him to show me what I couldn't see. I saw, through his eyes, how he had hung her. He'd done a full body tie with her hands bound together behind her back, hung with her torso hung toward the ground with her ass in the air, legs relaxed down. This way it was easier to strike. He held the flogger in his hands as he circled her, giving me a very good view. "Same rules apply," I stated, caressing her mind.

"I understand."

"How did you feel when you realized what was going on at the ceremony?" I started strong. "When you realized what was about to happen?"

She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "I was angry at first. I couldn't believe Silas would participate in such a ... ritual. He knew it went against my morals. My hunting pact. Then, fear and frustration. Because I knew if I tried to save her, I would have been their next victim. I think Keb was banking on me overreacting. He wanted me to lose control, so he had a reason to take me for himself. And lastly, sadness because another innocent passed because of my inability to act. Once again, my hands were bound. I didn't feel like I had a choice in the matter if I wanted to live."

I gave myself a moment to regain my composure. As I did, Caden praised her, placing several kisses over her shoulders and cheeks. "Do you think Silas was a willing participant?" Caden asked next, curiosity in his voice.

"No. I do not think he realized what was going on until they brought out the sacrifice. He was ... Scared. Like he was re-living a nightmare. He was adamant about locking me safely in my room. I am sure he had a guard on me for most of the ceremony. To make sure I was safe and no one came to steal me away. Though, at the time, I thought it was to keep me compliant. To keep me from sneaking out and making a scene."

She was doing very well so far. Giving her more praises, I watched as Caden traced his fingers over specific areas she loved being caressed and kissed her temple as a reward.

"Keb came for you that night, didn't he? After the ceremony was done."

"Yes."

"What did he do?" I pressed, holding my breath. Knowing this was going to be hard for all of us.

She hadn't gone into specifics earlier, when she told us about her final days with Silas. She'd waited for this specific moment to relive such harrowing memories.

Swallowing hard, I felt her mind fracturing with terror. I tried to hold the shattering pieces together, hating how her fear tasted in my mouth.

"I think it felt more ... Threatening than it was because of the demon's blood," she murmured, unable to speak the quiet parts out loud yet.

Caden struck, hard and fast, the flogger stinging against her exposed thighs with a warning strike.

She hissed her pain.

Within my chest, I felt the protectiveness flare, unhappy he had struck at all.

"Stop stalling," Caden snarled, forcing her to look up into his gaze. Those large sage green eyes round and filled with trepidation hit me like a freight train. "Say it," his voice dipped low, threateningly, his fingers curling dangerously around her throat. He was barely keeping his fear and anger at bay, and it was bleeding out in his actions.

Within her mind, I saw how it started. He'd been watching her sleep from a crack in the door, only pouncing when she'd woken from the disturbance in the air.

"He told me Silas wouldn't always be here to save me. And when I failed to give my oath, I would become his. To serve him in whatever ways he saw fit."

Within her mind's eye, I saw the different ways he'd shown her just how he would break her. How he would chain her to a wall, naked and put her up for auction. Someone like her—a councilor, renowned hunter and a Knight—would rack up the revenue. He would sell her body until no one wanted her. He would starve her. Keep her compliant with demon's blood. Have their butchers carve apart the innocents they harvested before her very eyes until she was driven mad. And once she was beyond saving, when she was feral and had turned to the darkness, he would release her into the world to be hunted, just like the monsters she hunted and killed for a living.

"We won't let him do those things to you," Caden reassured her, his fingers in her hair biting, forcing her mind back to the present and out of the tailspin it was in.

"He won't stop until one of us is dead," she murmured heartbreakingly, tears clinging to her lashes.

Like Valdis, I surmised.

"Yes," she mused, seeing the connection.

"It's worse than that," Caden grumbled, because Keb hadn't fallen. He was pure evil and obsessed with Jadea.

"He will fall," my wolf's voice flowed into her mind, soothing her wolf's fears.

"He'll have to kill us first before taking you again," Caden stated darkly.

This thought scared her most. Hating the idea anyone would put their lives before hers.

It would continue to be a moot point. And that was okay.

"What scares you most about him?" I pressed, feeling there was more.

I felt her take a shuddering breath as she mentally prepared herself for this confession. "He is my living, breathing nightmare. He wanted me from the beginning. He succeeded in capturing me once... It is not so unlikely he could do it again. And the next time..." She wouldn't survive. She knew she would take her own life the instant she got the chance. The faster she was out of the picture, the sooner everyone she loved would be safe from Keb and his sadistic games.

I refused to let it come to that.

He would have to pry her from my cold, dead hands. She would never fall into his wicked clutches again.

"I think we need to do some kind of exposure therapy with her," I told Caden. I wasn't sure how we would tackle that—

"Exposure therapy?"

"To Keb. She's going to freeze when she comes face-to-face with him."

He scoffed. "She's never frozen before." Even when faced by her abusers: Valdis, Elam, Hans. "Keb will be no different."

I understood his logic, but Keb was her kryptonite. I saw how she reacted to Agamemnon when he was peering out at her through the door. She reacted violently, which supported Caden's theory, but ... My gut was in an uproar. He knew exactly how to bring her to her knees. He knew exactly what to say and do to make her falter. To force her to make a mistake.

Tonight wasn't the time to argue. I could bring this up with her when we were alone. To get a better gauge on how she was feeling.

"I'm ready for the next scene," Jadea murmured tiredly. That itch to harm herself rearing its ugly head. I noticed how that need came around more often when Keb was involved.

"Go ahead," I relented, knowing there wasn't much more after Keb's attack on her.

I stayed connected with her throughout the scene and aftercare, knowing she craved my presence. When they were settled in bed, I brushed her mind with a tender kiss and sent her off to sleep, knowing I would hardly rest at all that night. I was too wound up from what she'd experienced. Praying Keb wouldn't strike while I wasn't there to protect her.