Chapter 22

Sounds reverberated in Violet"s aching brain.

At first, she thought it was the remnants of a strange dream surging through her mind. She figured she was somewhere in between waking and dreaming state.

It was only when she pried her eyes open and attempted to adjust to the darkness that she started to realize something absolutely terrifying.

Those voices were real.

There were men, a lot of them, talking and laughing outside the room she was currently shut away in. Not one voice she recognized either, which only made her heart race at the speed of light.

Where was she?

As she tried to sit up, it hit her that everything was so much worse than she already feared. She was bound to whatever was underneath her, and she also had a gag in her mouth.

This was bad.

Really bad.

She tried to think back to what she could recall, to see if she might be able to remember something that could assist her and help her work out where she was, but there was nothing.

Her brain remained frustratingly blank.

She had nothing.

A crack of light slithered into the room, but it was not enough for Violet to really see anything.

But she was acutely aware of a presence slipping into the room.

Her nervous heart began to race so vigorously, she feared her heart might shatter her rib cage. Never had she ever been so terrified in her whole life.

"Hey, Peaky, what you doing?"

This time as the door swung open, it was much wider, and Violet could see around ten men in the small room on the other side of the door.

There were a lot of tankards of ale in the hands of the men, and the cigar smoke caused a terribly stale smell to cling to the air.

"Just checking in on our guest," Peaky growled back.

Violet did not like the subtle edge to his voice.

It made her feel like he had terrible intentions.

"I need to make sure that our little friend is all secure."

It was hard for Violet not to react as his smelly breath brushed over her face, but she thought it might be best for her to act like she had not woken up yet.

Just to give herself a chance to work out what her best move might be.

"Mmm, now this is one hell of a body," the man murmured as he tugged at her binds. "What I would do to a body like this…"

His dark presence was terrifying.

The way he was being invasive was even worse.

What would she do if he took this a little further? How was she going to act like she was still sleeping if he touched her in ways that she did not want? There was no way she could just lie here with his unwelcome hands ruining her.

She would have to fight.

But how could she fight when she was at such a disadvantage?

A bellowing cry exploded outside of the room, halting Peaky in his tracks before he could do anything to force Violet into a fight.

Thank goodness.

She really had not wanted to fight.

"What the hell?" Peaky muttered as his eyes faced the door.

The sounds of combat only seemed to intensify.

"Who the hell is that?"

Peaky found Violet"s eyes once more, only this time she was staring defiantly at him. She did not necessarily feel any stronger since she was still bound and gagged, but she could not help but hope that something was finally working out for her.

This fight might not be related to her, but she was hoping that it would give her the much-needed distraction she required to get out of here.

After Peaky had made her so uncomfortable, she knew that she was not about to stay here, to see what these men were willing to do to her.

"Where is she?" someone screamed on the other side of the door. "I am not leaving until I find her…"

This time as the door blew open, it seemed like someone kicked it. Violet desperately hoped that she was not dreaming as she caught sight of William there, all sweaty and looking like he had been fighting.

She needed that image to be true.

She could not stand the idea of it being someone else.

Thankfully the image of William did not disappear.

He truly did seem to be right there staring at her.

His glazed over eyes took in the scene, putting the jigsaw pieces together.

"What the hell have you done?" William yelled at Peaky as his whole demeanor darkened. "You do not dare touch my wife like that."

The rest of the words he yelled became muffled as William leapt across the room to tackle Peaky down to the ground with a very loud thump.

The fight seemed ferocious and violent.

It was absolutely terrifying.

The yelling got louder as each punch was thrown.

Violet felt sick to her stomach, especially because she knew that the only way she could help William was to free herself. She wrestled as hard as she could to loosen the binds, but it was challenging.

The knots were tight.

These men really did not want to let her free.

But as the cursing intensified and the violence continued to erupt out of her eye line, Violet knew with utter certainty that William might be in trouble down there.

Who knew how dangerous Peaky and his men were.

She could not stand the idea of her husband being hurt. Especially since he had come to rescue her from what could have been the worst thing to ever happen to her.

Eventually, one of the men rose to his feet, before Violet could loosen the binds around her enough.

She panicked and froze while she waited to see which eyes would be looking back at her. The ones from her dreams, or from her nightmares.

"Oh, William, thank goodness it is you."

She blew out a breath of relief and laid back down. She was safe, she would be rescued, before anything truly terrible could happen to her.

"Let me get you out of here."

He looked like he had snapped out of the darkness that had swum through him ever since he stepped into this room.

"Let me free you. I cannot believe they tied you like this."

William was breathless. Almost as shell shocked as Violet. He was actually trembling as he loosened the knots. It was only as the ropes slipped off her wrists that Violet realized how tightly she had been bound.

There was no way that she could have gotten out alone.

"I am going to kill everyone," William growled. "They cannot treat you this way. I will not have it. You are my wife…"

"Please, do not kill anyone." Violet eagerly rested her hands on William"s cheeks, trying to get him to focus on her. "I just want to get out of here, I just want to be safe."

The stiffness in William"s shoulders seemed to subside a little. Perhaps he was not too happy with leaving these monsters alive, but Violet did not want him to do a thing to risk losing him.

If he killed any of these idiots, then the police constable might lock him away and Violet did not want to be left married to a convict that she could never see. She would lose the man who gave her something to believe in.

"Whatever you want," William finally agreed, much to Violet"s relief. "If you would like to get out of here, then that is what we shall do."

But it seemed like he was not ready to exit just yet. Not before he had crushed his lips to hers and devoured her with a mind blowing kiss.

It was the sensation of his lips which really spiked her awareness and brought all the feeling back in to her body once more. Violet did not even realize how numb she had become through all of this.

Maybe it was her body"s way of dealing with all of this.

It was a shock.

A terrible surprise to find out that she was imprisoned by these men. The very men that her brother had decided that it was a good idea to owe money to.

As soon as William loosened his grip on her, Violet felt everything slipping away from her once more. The shock had thawed and now she was left with the absolutely terrifying notion that she could have died here.

These men could have killed her, or worse, if it had not been for her wonderful husband.

He was her hero.

She was starting to think that he was always going to be her hero. She did not know what she would do without him now, and she certainly did not want to find out.