His hand landed on my chin, pushing my head sideways as his eyes locked onto my neck.
I shoved him away, coughing slightly. “Don’t touch me.”
He sniffed and dug an index finger into the ground for balance. “There’s old bruises as well as new on your neck.”
I glowered at him, already seeing where he was going with this.
Jareth wasn’t a normal person. He wasn’t like my brother. He wasn’t like all the other men I’d met before Kas. He’d shared the blackness that Fables had given. He’d been indoctrinated into whatever nightmares Kas still lived.
Of course, he would see pain that others would not. Of course, he would know what caused that pain without needing to ask.
His voice dropped to a gruff rasp. “How many times has he tried to strangle you to death?”
I arched my chin even though it made my throat tingle with the lingering pressure of Kas’s fingers. “None of your business.”
“Oh, I think it is my business.” He cocked his head at Kas who groaned and showed signs of coming to. “He loves you. You know that, right?”
I gritted my teeth and crossed my arms. “I’m not having this conversation. Let me go tend to him. Who the hell knows what you’ve done to his head by knocking him out again. He needs help.”
“Perhaps it will knock him out of the past.” He rubbed his mouth. “Tell me something, Gemma Ashford.”
My ears pricked. How did he know my full name? Had Kas told him when I’d been warming up the pasta? I was aware they shared a past that made their brotherhood impenetrable, but Kas seemed...protective of me. I doubted he’d give up everything about me so soon.
Would he?
When I didn’t reply, Jareth continued in a cold, almost bored voice. “Why are you still here?”
I shivered.
He wasn’t the only one who would ask that question. When, if, I ever made it back to my mother and brother, I would have to answer that. I would have to be able to look people in the eyes and either lie and make Kas sound like an inescapable villain or tell the truth that I stopped trying to leave the day I fell in love with him—which made me sound weak and stupid because who the hell would fall in love with a man who kept trying to kill her?
“He loves you, but it won’t stop him from hurting you when all he can see is the past,” Jareth muttered, picking up a pinecone and throwing it deeper into the woods. “He’s always been angry. I wasn’t the only one who lay awake in our dorm and sensed his rage. It was so thick it filled that small room. It grew worse as he got older. His hatred grew bigger each time one of us was summoned, and his volunteering to take our place was refused.”
His eyes met mine, flat and serious. “It was bad then, but it’s a thousand fucking times worse now.” His hand struck out again, fast and sharp, cupping around my nape and running his thumb over my new bruises. “I know what that feels like. I’ve been where he is. And you know what I did?” He pulled me into him, dragging me off my knees until I fell against his thigh, grabbing it in both hands for balance. “I killed the girl who woke me up. The only one who ever had a hope in hell of making me human.” His eyes stayed locked on mine, diving into me, raping me, poisoning me until I wanted to be sick. “Everything I did was for her, and what did I do? I lost myself to rage and ended up killing her instead.”
Pushing me away, he stood. He winced, showing some sign that his body still hurt from Kas’s fists, but his voice was pure snow as he said, “I love him. Or at least...I did when I remembered what it felt like to feel. I owe him because he set us free that night. And I respect him for trying to crawl out of hell on his own instead of seeking help. But...I should do him a favor and kill him. Right here, right now.” He stepped toward Kas, making me shoot to my feet and sprint unsteadily past him.
Throwing myself over Kas like a protective shield, I hissed, “Don’t you dare touch him.”
Jareth stopped.
For an endless second, I honestly believed he weighed up the pros and cons of just killing both of us. Of taking my life and Kas’s. It would be so easy for him. So simple for a heartless man who’d been taught nothing but cruelty.
A man who had his own agony. His own mistakes. His own black-riddled story.
But then, he slowly pulled a packet of cigarettes from his back pocket. He lifted the lid, tapped the side, pulled out a smoke, and lit it with a silver lighter. Tucking the packet back into his pocket, he dragged in a lungful of tar before narrowing his eyes and pointing at me with the glowing end of the cigarette. “Here’s what will happen, you lovestruck fool. You’ll keep fighting to save him. He’ll keep fighting to deserve you. You’ll both believe you’re winning. That love will prevail. That you’ll both end up happy. But I’m telling you now, that won’t happen. Take it from someone with experience. He will kill you. It’s just a matter of time.”
Kas opened his bleary eyes, choking on a gasp. My attention dropped to him just as Jareth brushed past, ducking to whisper in my ear as a cloud of tobacco smoke licked around him. “One chance. I’ll give him one chance. If he fucks it up, I won’t hesitate next time. I’ll do you a favor and ensure you have nothing holding you here anymore. And I’ll do him a favour by setting him free after a lifetime of being in hell. No one, and I mean no fucking one, should live in this place voluntarily. Call it ruthless. Call it heartless. But if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll see that it’s actually called mercy.” His teeth flashed as he stood, ice dripping off his every word. “In fact, my mercy will extend past both of you. I’ll kill this entire fucking valley. I’ll destroy it. Burn it to ash. Bulldoze every tree into dust.”
Kas struggled to sit up, his gaze still vacant and not computing his surroundings.
Jareth stepped back, his upper lip sneering in something akin to pity and cool detachment. “One chance.” He held up his finger, smoke curling around his hand. “That one chance starts now.”
He waltzed toward the tree line, chose a particularly weathered-looking pine, crossed his ankles, and leaned his shoulder against the bark.
He took a drag on his cigarette just as Kas bolted upright, his mind rebooting, his memory kicking in, shoving me into fear and panic.
CHAPTER SIX
GEMMA’S FACE WAS THE first thing I saw clearly.
Her strained, beautiful face with golden-hazel eyes, pinched cheeks, worried lips, and leaf-tangled blond hair.
And everything fell away.
The nightmare faded, leaving only streaks of horror slinking through my blood. How Storymaker had returned from the dead. How he’d thanked me for filling his house with slaves once again. How glad he was that he had fresh meat for his eager guests to sample.
I shook my head, doing my best to stop the echoes in my head. Storymaker had been rotten and worm-eaten. He’d been a walking corpse. Bone fingers complete with ribbons of skin hanging off a gaunt skeleton, stepping like a ghoul into the conservatory where Gem slept.
He’d touched her.
He’d run his motherfucking putrid fingers over her forehead while she slept. “She’s pretty, Kassen. You did good. She’ll be a nice addition to our Fable family.”