The ride back to La Brune was even more silent than the journey to the valley. The heater in the SUV was blasting, but Ava felt like the frost from Liam's skin had seeped into the leather seats. Liam sat staring out the window, his handt he one he had used to crush Yuri's throat,was trembling ever so slightly. He tried to hide it by clenching his fist, but Ava saw it. She saw everything.
The blood on his face had dried into dark, ugly streaks. He looked less like a king and more like a ghost haunted by his own deeds.
When they reached the castle, Liam didn't wait for Marcus or Silas to open the door. He shoved it open and marched inside, his heavy boots echoing like thunder in the marble hall.
"Sir, your hand needs tending," Silas said, stepping forward.
"Leave me alone!" Liam roared, his voice cracking with a raw, unfilterred anger that made the maids shrink into the shadows. He didn't look at Ava. He didn't look at anyone. He headed straight for his private chambers in the West Wing.
Ava didn't listen to Silas's warning look. She didn't care about the 'protocol' anymore. She followed him. Her heart was beating so fast it hurt, but she couldn't let him stay alone in that darkness. Not after what she saw in his eyes back at the lodge.
She reached his door just as he was about to slam it. She caught the edge of the wood with her hand.
"Go away, Ava," Liam growled. He was standing in the middle of the dark room, his back to her. He had stripped off his overcoat, and his white shirt was stained with red. "I told you what would happen. You saw it. Now go back to your room before I make you regret ever comming here."
"No," Ava said, her voice steady despite the strenth she had to gather. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. The click of the lock sounded final. "You can't push me away anymore, Liam. I've seen the monster. He doesn't scare me as much as the man who's bleeding right now."
Liam turned around, his eyes blazing with a dangerous light. He stalked toward her, pinning her against the door. His breath smelled of bitter scotch and iron.
"You think this is a romance novel?" he wispered, his voice dripping with venom.
"You think you can fix me with a bandage and a kiss? I am a Moretti. My hands are stained so deep that the water in these mountains couldn't wash them clean. I am the man who burns lodges and kills family legacies. That is who I am!"
"Then why do you still have that piece of silk?" Ava challenged, her eyes wet with tears.
Liam froze. The anger in his face flickered, replaced by a momentary look of pure, unadulterated pain. He let go of her and stumbled back, hitting his desk. A crystal decanter fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces,just like the silence between them.
"I keep it to remind me of what I lost," he choked out.
Ava walked over to him, slow and careful, as if she were approaching a wounded predator. She saw the deep gash on his palm where the bottle had broken. It was still bleeding, sluggish and dark. Without a word, she grabbed a bowl of water from the side table and a clean linen cloth.
She took his hand. He tried to pull away, but she held on with a grip that surprised even him.
"Sit," she commanded..
To her surprise, he sat. The great 'Ice King' collapsed into his leather chair, his head falling back against the headrest. He looked utterly exhausted. As Ava dipped the cloth into the cool water and began to wipe the blood from his skin, the room grew quiet.
Only the sound of the wind howling outside the thick stone walls broke the stillness.
Her fingers were gentle, brushing against his rough skin. Every time she touched him, a spark of electricity shot through her. She could feel his pulse fast, erratic, and wild.
"Why did you do it, Liam?" she asked softly, her eyes focused on his wound. "Why the change? Six months ago, you wanted us to run. Now... you're building a graveyard."
Liam was silent for a long time. Then, he spoke, his voice so low she had to lean in to hear it.
"Because running didn't work, Ava. They found the bunker. They almost killed you. I realized that as long as the Council exists, there is no place on this earth where you are safe. So I decided to become the thing they fear the most. I decided to be the man who hunts the hunters."
He looked down at her, his gaze intense. "But the cost... the cost was the only part of me that deserved you. I can't be both, Ava. I can't be a savior and a tyrant."
Ava looked up, her thumb tracing the line of his jaw. "Maybe you don't have to be. Maybe you just have to be Liam."
She leaned in, her heart stopping as her lips brushed his forehead, then his cheek, and finally stopped just inches from his mouth. The tension in the air was so thick it was hard to breathe.
Liam's hand came up, his blood-stained fingers tangling in her blonde hair. He looked at her with such a mix of love and self loathing that it broke her heart all over again.
"You're going to burn with me, aren't you?" he breathed.
"I've been on fire since the day I met you, she replied.