Page 862 of Coal Hearts

His mother dashed around me and patted the couch for her husband to place me down. They sat on either side of me, both arms wrapped tight around me, rocking with me as I broke and broke and broke.

“It’s okay. There, there. What on earth happened, beta?”

I broke harder.

Even his voice reminded me of Paavak.

I’d lost Henri and Peter.

I’d lost my innocence and happiness.

But in these strangers’ arms, I found the strength to smile through my tears and study them.

Paavak’s father wiped my tears away with his thumb. “Are you safe? Are you hurt? You can tell us. We’ll look after you.”

“Did someone attack you?” his mother asked softly, her voice so soft and sweet. “We can call the police for you? Your family? What happened?”

“I...” I sat taller and gathered all my courage. “I-I’m a friend of your son.”

Both parents froze and shot each other a look.

“Paavak?” his dad asked. “But he’s been gone for—”

“H-He saved my life.” Touching my chest that would always have a small indentation from where the bullet had shot me, I spoke through my tears. “Your son protected me without any hesitation. He stepped in front of me and...” I clung to his mother’s hand. “He...he died last month saving me and...” I hung my head and couldn’t continue.

His mother started to cry.

His father got up and paced the lounge.

I didn’t know how much time passed but eventually my tears dried up, and I accepted a hot tea that his father placed into my hands.

“It’s been five and a half years,” he murmured, crouching on his heels before me. “We’ve missed him every day. Yet you tell us he’s been alive this entire time? Can you...can you tell us what happened?”

I clutched the warm mug and winced. “It’s not an easy story to hear. But...I’ll tell it if you want.”

“I’d like to know,” his father said. “If you can share it with us.”

“What do you want to know?”

His mother dabbed at her tears with a pretty mandala handkerchief but her smile revealed she was far stronger than me. “Everything. We want to know everything.”

And so I told them...

Everything.

Chapter Thirty

...............................

Henri

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I BOLTED FROM THE SLAUGHTER.

Blood dripped down the walls from where I’d slashed my way through the mansion.

Bodies lay where they’d landed. Four guards and seven bastards. Some I’d shot. Some I’d stabbed. All of them wiped off my brother’s dwindling list.