Chapter 26

CHAPTER26

"Now, Edward!" He heard Leah urge him.

That was all the motivation he needed. The ropes dug into his flesh, leaning marks and painful, red lines that might erupt in blood at any moment, but he knew that this was their only moment to escape. He tugged at the ropes harder and harder, until they finally loosened around his wrists enough for him to be able to slide one hand out and then the other. He quickly untied the ropes around his feet and rushed over to Leah to help her.

"Oh, Edward, my love... are you all right?" she asked with such tenderness and love in her voice that it almost broke him. Here she was, asking about him, while it was he who was supposed to keep her safe and protected. He had one thing to do, and he failed in doing it.

"I am, but are you?" He cupped her cheeks with his hands once she was standing on her feet as well, liberated from the tightness of the ropes that were keeping her confined.

"I think so," she managed to muster, looking paler than ever. "We must stop that man," she pleaded with both her eyes and her words.

"Of course, we will," he assured her, bringing their foreheads close together. "But first, we must make sure to get out of this alive. This man is trying to kill us, Leah and we have to be careful."

He grabbed her by the hand, and together, they headed toward the door. However, the moment they did so, they heard the sound of oncoming footsteps.

"Quickly, go back!" he whispered, pushing her back into the room. He frantically looked around. There was nowhere to run or hide. The room had no windows, so they could not escape that way. They had to stay here and fight. "You go and stand there in the middle of the room," he urged.

"Where will you be?" she asked, petrified.

"Right here, my love," he reassured her. "I have failed you once. I don’t plan on making that mistake ever again. Do you trust me?"

She stared at him straight in the face. There was only one answer to his question. An unmistakable yes.

"With my life," she told him.

"Then, please do as I say," he urged. "The clock is ticking. We don’t have much time. He will be here any moment."

She rushed over to where he pointed and stood there. "Is this good?" she asked, hugging herself in an effort to calm her raging nerves.

He hated leaving her like that, all alone, but he knew that his plan would only work if they separated for a few moments. The Marquess needed to be distracted long enough for Edward to attack him.

"Perfect," he nodded. "Stay there and don’t move. He will come at you, but I will get him before he does."

She nodded nervously. He rushed into the darkness behind the door. Every moment counted. He knew that they had only one chance to do this. If they failed, then... he dreaded to even think what might happen. He tried to banish the thought from his mind.

This will work, he kept repeating inside his mind over and over again. It had to work. The alternative was not an option.

The sound of the footsteps was getting louder and louder. There was shouting as well. Edward immediately recognized the Marquess’ voice. That scoundrel, he growled to himself. He wanted to exact revenge for everyone that horrible man had ever hurt. But he had to make sure that Leah was safe first. That was the most important thing. Then, if there was still time and a chance for it, he would avenge himself, his parents, Leah’s mother and everyone else this man had ever harmed.

The Marquess finally came rushing in. He probably remembered that he had forgotten to lock the door upon his departure. He stood in the doorway and stared at Leah.

"How did you break loose?" he snarled at her angrily. There was so much malice in his voice that it made Edward’s blood turn cold. He knew that this man was capable of any sort of villainy a man could come up with. And he needed to be stopped. His reign of terror needed to be brought to an end.

He wanted to jump at him right now, but the Marquess was too far away. He had to lunge at Leah in order for Edward to have the perfect momentum and jump on him. Everything had to be done in the right moment, otherwise it might be all in vain. Even now, Edward wasn’t certain how many men were upstairs, waiting for them. But he would think about them after he dealt with the Marquess.

Finally, the Marquess made his move. Furiously, he lunged at Leah, in an effort to grab her and tie her to the chair again, but before he could even touch her, Edward was on his back.

"What the–" the Marquess started, but he wasn’t allowed to finish.

The two men started to roll on the ground. The Marquess somehow managed to take control, and now he was on top of Edward, with his hands around Edward’s neck. Seconds felt like entire hours, as Edward was beginning to suffocate. He tried reaching for the Marquess’ head, his neck, his arms, but it was all in vain. The man had become a beast. There was such evil in his eyes, glowing almost red. For a moment, Edward thought he was looking at a demon, and not a man.

Stars began to appear before his eyes, and he knew that if he didn’t push the man off of him, he would suffocate. He released the Marquess’ hands, and curled his own fingers into a fist, punching the man’s sides. The grip around his neck loosened, but not enough for Edward to be able to free himself.

"Aargh!" the Marquess suddenly screamed with pain.

Edward could see that Leah had approached the man from behind and stuck her fingers into the man’s eyes, which made him immediately release Edward’s neck. Edward coughed violently, but he knew that this was his chance. He couldn’t waste it.

He lunged at the Marquess, throwing him to the ground. He began to punch him over and over again, hitting him with his knuckles. Blood splattered everywhere. The man started to gurgle heavily, coughing, turning his head to the side, but Edward was unable to stop himself. It was as if the spirit of everyone this man had ever killed had taken over his hands and they were leading them right into the face of this man. They wanted to keep hitting him over and over again, until there was nothing left.

Only when he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder did he stop.

"Edward?" Leah whispered to him, her hand warming that place on his shoulder, as the warmth slowly spread through his body all the way toward his heart. She brought him back to the present moment, to reality. She made him stop. Otherwise, he was certain that he would have killed that man, the man who had taken his parents, Leah’s mother and countless other lives.

"He doesn’t deserve to live," Edward growled at the man who was still alive, barely breathing on the floor.

"If you kill him, then you are no better than he is," Leah reminded him, in her angelic voice that always helped him distinguish between right and wrong.

"I don’t want to be like him," he jumped up, disgusted that there was even the slight chance of him acting like this animal.

"I know you could never be," Leah smiled, wrapping her arms around Edward and pressing her head to his chest. "I know you are consumed by your desire for vengeance but trust me. This vengeance isn’t ours. All we are here to do is to bring this man before justice. He will be punished, both in this world and the next. I am certain of that."

He had to admit that she was right. She always knew what to say, to calm down the storm that was inside his heart. Before her, he didn’t know how to soothe this pain, this torment. She knew exactly how. And she managed to do it every single time, without mistake.

He wrapped his arms around her as well. They finally found out the truth. It was painful. It did not bring their loved ones back, just like they didn’t think it would. But the truth deserved to be told. The guilty parties deserved to be brought before the face of justice. It was simply how life ought to be.

When she finally released him, he could see tears on her face. He wiped them off with the tips of his fingers. He hated when she cried. That meant she was in pain. He never wanted her to be in pain again. He would live out the rest of his life making sure she never cried. But now, they still needed to find their way out of this house.

"Are you ready to go home?" he asked, taking her by the hand and bringing it to his lips for a loving peck. Her hands were cold. He could see the red lines from the ropes that were tied around her wrists. He wanted to go back and punch that vile man several more times for doing this to Leah, but the Marquess wasn’t worth it. He would get what he deserved. Edward was certain of that. Like Leah said, he shouldn’t stoop down to his level and be like him. Never.

"I think we need to go upstairs," she suggested. "This is a cellar of some sort."

"You need to stay close to me," he advised. "And we should find a weapon of some sort. There are at least three more men we need to take down, and probably even more."

She looked around. "What if you break that chair and we use the legs as weapons?"

He grinned. "That’s my girl."

He walked over to one of the chairs, took it in his hands and smashed it against the floor. The legs all fell apart from the seat. Two of the legs were even pointy on one end, which could come in handy. He hoped he would not need to kill anyone, just incapacitate them until he and Leah had their chance to escape this dreadful house. He took one of the chair legs and offered Leah the other.

"You hit hard, my love, understood?" he advised.

She nodded quickly. The way she was holding that chair leg, firmly with both hands planted around it, he was certain that she would hit well. For some reason, he loved her even more for it. Many women froze in the face of danger. He had seen it so many times. He heard so many stories. But not Leah. She reminded him of his own mother, filled with vigor and courage. They would never allow a man to keep them down.

"Ready?" he asked, staring at her.

"Ready," she echoed.

How beautiful she was, his love, his warrior, his life. He knew it now, just like he knew it before. There would never be another woman for him. Never. Leah was forever. He was hers and she was his. Even if they didn’t leave this house alive. He tried to banish such negative thoughts. We shall get out of this. He kept repeating this over and over. She was leaning on him. She relied on him. He was the voice of reason. And that reason needed to assure them that they would both survive, no matter how many men there were upstairs.

He leaned closer to kiss her. He wasn’t planning on making this their last kiss. In fact, this was their first kiss after they found out the truth. And there would be many more to follow.