Chapter 26: Chapter 26
Imara slammed the front door shut behind her, and Thorin rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up out of his chair. His hip dug into the doorway, and his finger pointed at his sister. “Unless you’re planning on paying for that glass out of your own pocket, young lady, I suggest you treat the door a little kinder.”
Standing before the mirror that hung above the foyer table, she yanked the pins from her hair and flung them into the trinket bowl. “This is as much my house as it is yours. I’ll break out every blessed window if I want to.”
With one hand on a glass of whiskey that always seemed to be empty, Thorin’s other went to his hip as he leaned against the doorway. “I take it your evening didn’t go as expected.”
Both hands pressed into the table as if she didn’t have it to ground her, she’d disappear into the dark marble beneath her feet. “Why did you hire him for me? All he ever does is hurt me and make me feel foolish.” She spoke to the gullible girl in the mirror. “What’s wrong with me? The man told me from his own mouth that he doesn’t want me.”
The cup rattled against the table, then his hands were on her shoulders, turning her around. “No, honey, there’s nothing wrong with you. Ben’s the one who’s lost right now.”
Knowing it was only a matter of time before his brother-in-law came through the door, Thorin kissed her forehead and nodded to the stairs. “Get yourself to bed. I’ll have Aster bring you some hot cocoa.”
He reclaimed his glass before returning through the parlor doors and stopped at the server. The man staring back at him in the mirror shook his head before refilling the never-ending cup of hopelessness. The front door opened as he sank into his father’s chair and swirled the ice in his glass.
As soon as he saw the dark eyes round the corner, Thorin pointed his finger at Ben. “We need to tell her. Soon.”
He yanked the hand towel from the server and wrapped it around his fist before speaking to Thorin’s reflection. “Absolutely not.”
A hand slammed on the marble-topped table beside him before Haldir sat back into the matching club chair beside Thorin. “Dammit, Ben. Do you want her remembering everything and thinking you’ve not wanted her all this time? She’ll be crushed. I told you, you had to be careful with someone like her.” A finger unwrapped from the glass he held and tapped into the table. “Now, this thing is happening regardless. You’re torturing the both of you for no good reason at all.”
Fingertips rubbed across his forehead as he turned to face Thorin. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. He’s going to take her away from me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”
The twitching started in his shoulders before Thorin heard him gasp, and his whole body quaked as the big man fell apart there in front of him. A hand wrapped around Ben’s head before Thorin pulled him into his embrace. “If something happens tomorrow, Ben, if we’ve been wrong about the timing and he comes for her before we’re ready, do you really want her leaving this world thinking you don’t love her anymore? Is that better than her knowing the truth?”
***
A tissue wiped the lipstick from her mouth as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. “You’re an idiot. Shaw would be so angry with you for being so foolish after he told you not to mess with him in the first place.” The frantic knocking in her head caught her attention, and her eyes shut to the door. “Is that you, Shaw?”
Her hand wrapped around the knob and yanked at the door, and her mouth opened to speak, but he wasn’t there. Leaning out the doorway, she peeked each way down the hall. “Shaw?”
Her ear rubbed her shoulder as she shrugged off the knocking in her ear, and she inched down the hall. “Where have you been, anyway? You would have done beat him into oblivion by now.”
‘Imara.’
The familiar, gruff voice called out to her, and she came to a stop in front of Thorin’s door. “Shaw?” Her hand pressed the door open and slid around the dark corner as she felt for the light switch. When the light flickered on from above, she pushed her bare feet across the floor to the giant dark form wearing overalls in the window looking back at her. “Where were you?”
A massive hand rose in the reflection, and his finger pointed to the closet beside him. ‘Remember her.’
The creaky door swung open, and Imara peeked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching until the faint baby giggles made her head snap back.
At her feet laid an old wooden trunk, and she lowered herself to her knees before it. The must and stale air wafted from the old things inside when she opened it, making Imara cover her mouth as she choked back its stench.
“What in the world are you doing with an old wedding dress, Thorin? Is it Momma’s?” She pressed it against her chest and realized the buttons were missing as her nose wrinkled. “Oh, dear! I hope that wasn’t Momma’s.”
The little giggles in her head brought her eyes back to the trunk. She folded the dress on her lap, and the ridges of her fingers skimmed over the velvet bag. “What do we have here?”
After fumbling with the cord that bound it, she pulled the knit bunny from the bag. Her eyes closed as she pressed it to her face. “Sofia, you…wait.”
Like someone was trying to get her attention, her fingers patted the dress, and when her eyes fell to her hand, the brand she ignored was waiting for her. “What the hell’s going on?”
She hissed through her teeth as the icy pain shot through her neck, and she fingered the scar with her shaking hand. “What happened to me?”
Little feet rushed through the hallway and beat against the stairs. “Thorin!”
With the rabbit in her hand, she ran into the parlor. “Thorin, whose toy is this?” Her eyes scanned the three men, and she shook her head. “Un-un. No. Shaw wouldn’t leave me like this. Where is he?”
As she inched closer to her brother, Haldir shut the door behind her. “Tell me, goddamn it. What happened to me?”
Two arms wrapped around her, and his lips brushed her ear as Ben nodded at Thorin and closed his eyes. With his fingers stretched out to cover her face, her brother commanded the door to open. “Ordaím duit cuimhneamh.”
Nothing but a silent scream fell from her mouth as her knees gave out beneath her. Ben came to his knees as he flipped her back into his arms and rocked her. “Breathe, Baby.”
Like a distant train whistle barreling towards him, the breathy whimper became a piercing wail that shook the old, wavy windows. “Eliza! No!”
“Shh!” His whisper blew across her face, and her eyes wove shut as his spell consumed her. In a single motion, he tugged her against his chest and snapped up from his knees as Haldir opened the doors. One stair or a million, it didn’t matter because his wife’s grief was heavy, and he grunted with each step. “I’m going to kill him, Baby. I promise you.”