Page 106 of Tempest’s Torment

Marcus' jaw is tight, but whatever he was about to say disappears. "Nothing." He turns toward the window, and I stare at the back of his head.

Evan turns back to me. But I'm not looking at him anymore. I'm focused on his brother. Because Marcus Webb might be willing to help Evan find me, he might be willing to help him take me, but he doesn't like watching him hurt me, and right now, that's the first useful thing I've got.

"What did he tell you about Lucy?" I ask.

Evan’s face hardens. "Don't."

"Did he tell you she was tied to a chair?"

"Lilah." It’s a warning.

"Did he tell you I was right beside her?"

"Shut up." His hand connects with my face, open-palmed, hard enough to send my head sideways and fill my eyes with water. I hold the tears back through sheer refusal.

I look at Marcus. "Did he tell you he made me watch?"

Marcus looks at Evan, Evan stares back, but nothing is said. When Evan turns back to me, it isn't just his palm that connects with my face. I keep my eyes open. I make myself stay present even while my body is screaming the opposite.

To distract myself, I think of Kai. His hands at the small of my back last night. The feeling of warmth as I woke up inside the circle of his arm. His voice, low and certain. I'm staying, Lilah. I hold on to that even as the pain laces through my body as Evan unleashes his anger on me, anywhere and everywhere he can.

I'm on the floor, bloody and beaten, and there’s a ringing in my ears that hasn't stopped. I just lie here, taking stock of my body: my wrists are still bound, the rope is looser on the left from all the pulling but not enough, my ankles are tied to the chair legs, my shoulder is hurting from the impact of being dragged and pushed, and my lip is busted, I can taste the blood dripping from it.

I close my eyes for a moment, centering myself like every time before. Kai's voice on the phone, low and steady and immediate. I'm here. His arm around me this morning before either of us had said anything, just the weight of him, certain and unhurried. His name from my lips for the first time, the resulting shift in his expression. I stay in that for a moment longer, and then I open my eyes.

Marcus hasn't moved, he was standing at the window throughout Evan’s assault on me, with his back to me, and now he's looking at the floor. Evan is nowhere to be seen.

I groan as I try to sit up but it’s no use; I’m in too much pain to get up. Marcus finally moves and sits on the edge of the table a few feet away. Not close. He doesn't look at me.

"He saved you," I say quietly. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Their relationship makes no sense, surely, you’d see how awful your brother is and put a stop to it, but Marcus hasn’t. His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t speak. I say it again, louder this time. "He saved you."

Marcus' eyes snap to mine. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?"

"No."

"Then why are you still here?"

His jaw tightens. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know you're not like him."

"You don't know him either."

A laugh slips out of me. "I watched him murder my sister." Marcus looks away, but not before I see the flash of guilt in them. "He saved you from something," I say. "Maybe it was from your dad, or even your mom, I don't know. But whatever happened, you've spent your whole life paying him back for it."

"Shut up," he growls at me.

"Am I wrong?"

"I said shut the fuck up."

But he doesn't look at me and he doesn't answer the question.

"Lucy used to defend him too," I say, pain lacing my chest at her name. God, I miss her so much.

His eyes come straight back to mine. "Don't talk about her."