Authors: Nichole Matthews
“I meant no offense.” Persephone turned her face to the
fire;
its flicker across the floor
mesmerized
her for a moment, taking her mind off their subject of conversation. She needed a distraction as she was unab
le to lo
ok at her friend at that moment. She fiddled with one of the ribbons on her sleeve
and sat quietly
.
“I’ve taken no offense
,
”
Piper
said, h
er
voice soft but low.
Persephone
swallowed hard,
turned back, ready to listen to more. She wanted to hear the story. She wanted to believe that someone could understand all that she had borne. She gripped her hands together tightly in her lap and listened.
“I feel a connection to you, Persephone.” Piper’s eyes held a smile. “You listen. It’s rare that people actually listen. That they actually want to know the truth.” Piper turned all too knowing eyes on Persephone making her squirm in her chair under her penetrating gaze.
“While in London for the
past Season
, I was kidnapped by
two men
who hated Rockwell
to the point of death
.”
Persephone gasped, her hand flew to her mouth
to stifle the sound
as shock rippled through her
.
Her heart constricted painfully as a new sensation flowed. Longing rose in her, sharp and swift to release the tales that she had locked away. To gain sympathy from someone who would understand. For someone to acknowledge that what she had suffered had not been
entirely her doing
, but
she
had learned to detest being weak and she felt if they knew the truth she would be weak in their eyes. She couldn’t bear to witness that
emotion in their depths
.
Piper continued, “
They were intent on killing me, but Rockwell, Parker, and a couple of their friends rescued me just in time.”
“Oh, Piper,” Persephone
said, her voice full of pain.
“I’m
not relaying this story to gain your sympathy,
”
Piper
said carefully.
“I’m relaying this story to ease your mind
,
”
Piper paused.
Persephone sat listening to the words that flowed from Piper’s mouth and breathed deep the soothing smell of burning wood from the blazing fire and waited.
“The men
beat me an
d kept me in a dark, locked cell
for days,
”
Piper stated, as if it was something that happened every day.
Persephone nodded in understanding.
She knew all too well what it was like to be held captive.
Piper leaned over and covered Persephone’s hand with one of hers. “I just wanted you t
o know that it does get better,” she whispered.
“The nightmares will fade
and if you choose, you can be happy again
.”
Persephone’s head jerked up, a wild look in her eyes before they turned watery, full of unshed tears, a strangled sob escaping her lips.
“That is very hard for me to believe.” She lowered her voice so that no one would be able to accidently overhear.
“I am proof that life does not end after enduring a nightmare.”
Piper
had
hear
d
the tightness in Persephone’s voice, the hint of fear that still hovered near the surface. “You have friends now.”
“It is all still so real.
”
Persephone shocked herself by saying these words out loud.
“It’s acceptable to cry. It’s acceptable to still feel a modicum of fear. I think you’re brave to have made it through whatever you were forced to endure and to still be able to care for your child and smile. That is paramount.”
“I love being a mother. It’s challenging and exhausting, but I never imagined I would be living hand to mouth or that I would be unwed. This is not how I pictured my future when I was a girl.”
“Be grateful that life has seen fit to drop you at the doorstep of
Rosebriar
.” Piper smiled. “For there is no better haven in which to regain your strength and your sense of purpose.”
Piper glanced at the clock in the corner. “I believe it is time for us to dress for dinner
and for me to stop filling your ears with tales from the past better left in the past
.”
Some of the fear clouding Persephone’s
featur
es fell away as Piper spoke. She
stood
and Piper stood alongside her
, shocked to the core when
she was hauled
close and wrapped
in Piper’s arms
.
At first she stood stiff
, uncomfortable with the intimacy of the act
, before she relaxed in
to
Piper’s comforting embrace.
“Thank you
for confiding such a delicate experience with me, Piper
,”
Persephone spoke
softly; wet tears shimmered in her eyes
.
She
l
ifted her eyes, her chin trembling
. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt to still its movement. “In a manner of speaking, I too was kidnapped and abused.”
Persephone’s heart raced and there was a hitch in her breath from speaking the words aloud.
Piper
leaned
in and pulled
Persephone into a
nother
reluctant hug.
“We mustn’
t go into any additional
details at this time.”
Piper pu
lled back and held out her hand. Persephone
placed her hand in Piper’s and
allowed her to lead
her out of the library
before linking
their arms.
“I’m starved
.”
Persephone
’s
shoulders relaxed
and she smiled slightly
.
“Me too.”
***
Peyton sat in the chair across from his superior a deep frown etched across his features and dark circles painted under his eyes.
He had seen too much and his nightmares were filled with crying, screaming, and rivulets of blood flowing from flayed skin. H
e squeezed his
eyes closed tightly and he shuddered at the picture that had just entered his mind
willing it to retreat
.
“You look like hell.”
Chillington
snorted.
Peyton
opened his eyes, glancing
up at
him with a dark look before he slammed his chair back and stood. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and let out a
low
growl.
“That bad?”
Chillington
steepled
his fingers under his chin his brow lifted as he watched the emotions that played across Peyton’s face.
“It’s fucking sickening.” Peyton’
s gut twisted. “You hav
e no idea what I’ve had to witness for the sake of justice
.”
His face felt taut, stretched tight over his features almost painful.
“I know exactly what you’ve watch
ed
, Perry.”
Chillington
clenched his jaw and ground his teeth.
“That is why you were there.”
Peyton sat down hard, dropping his head into his hands. He wanted to roar with frustration.
“My sister is dead because of the
se fucking bastards, Perry.”
Chillington
slammed his hands down on the top of his desk. “I want theses bastards and I do not care how you go about it.”
Peyton’s eyebrows rose at the blunt statement.
“Understood.”
It was a statement, not a question.
The scowl on
Chillington
’s
face deepened for a split second before he was able to hide
his reactions
behind
his
mask
once again
.
Chillington
pushed out of the chair with a curse
and poured two tumblers of whiskey. “
Here.
”
He thrust the glass at Peyton
without bothering to ask if he wanted the drink.
Peyton flashed him a mocking smile before he drained his glass in one swallow
. He e
njoy
ed the burn as it
eased slowly down his throat to warm him from the inside
.
He
slam
med
the glass down on the top of the desk with enough force to shatter the crystal
.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeeze
d his eyes shut, waiting for
Chillington
to continue.
“Just don’t tell me what you had to do.”
Chillington
settled back into his chair on the opposite side
of the desk. “I do not want to be culpable.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Peyton, I don’t like that look in your eye
s
.”
Peyton
caught himself. His body straightened and his face grew expressionless.
“The only thing I’m concerned about is getting this over with as quickly as possible.”
Chillington
waved him away with his hand and Peyton rose from his chair and walked out of the room without a backward glance.
He was in control again, and there was no danger he would fail.
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat;
If you haven’t got a penny, a
ha’penny
will do,
If you haven’t got a
ha’penny
then God bless you!
A
fter dinner Persephone paced back and forth in front of the blazing fire
, but even its heat could not melt the chill around her heart.
Sometimes
she thought about the way it had been
b
efore.
Before death.
Before pain.
Before fear.
Things had been
different then
. I
nnocent and wide open
,
free and beautiful. She wanted to feel that way again. Somewhere along the
journey she lost a part of her or rather it had been
forcefully
taken from her and she wanted it back. No, she
needed
it back.
It seemed as if only y
esterday she was just a girl. Now she was a fallen woman. She was a mother. She was nothing. But with Pa
rker she felt whole again, but w
as
n’t it
too late
?
Too dangerous
? After all, you can’t turn back the clock.
She couldn’t pretend that none of it had occurred.
She was no longer innocent, far from it.
She felt that everybody was watching and waiting for her to fall. She knew her uncle was waiting for her to make a mistake. Just one misstep was all it would take. She was barely two steps ahead. Had she not fallen asleep in
Parker’s
field she would be locked up in the cell of a room once again. Her tricks known. How would she have escaped now?
Would
he
have even taken a chance?
She should really explain. She should straighten her shoulders and just tell him. He deserved to know who she truly was.
The ugly truth. How can it be worse than not knowing? There was so much she didn’t know about him, but she needed to trust him. Needed to believe that there was good still left in the world.
By now she should be used to it being just her and Tillie. She should be grateful for what she had
,
not wishing for more. She should be grateful, but she wanted more. She deserved more. She would always long for more.
Living alone she would think of him. She would never forget. She would remember his laugh and the spark in his eyes. The hunger when he looked at her.