209 Chapter 209 – Retribution and a Faint Plea
209 Chapter 209
Retribution and a Faint Plea
“Please,” I managed, my grip on her wrist embarrassingly weak.
Another pause.
“Liam,” she breathed, returning to my bedside.
With a faint smile, I surrendered to healing sleep, secure in the knowledge that she would keep her word. For now, that was enough.
She immediately reached for a cup of water with a straw, holding it to my lips. The cool liquid soothed my parched throat.
Isabelle’s eyes searched mine, looking for something deeper. Whatever she saw made her smile sadly.
Her loyalty stunned me. I drifted away again, comforted by her fierce defense.
“Make him suffer.” Her words were ice. “Every lash Liam endured, return it tenfold. Keep him alive–but make him wish he wasn’t.”
“What happened to Gage?” I asked.
She entwined her fingers with mine, careful not to disturb the IV. “Why did you do it? Why risk everything for someone you barely know?”
“Caspian,” she said, her voice low and dangerous, “go back in there.”
“His body has sustained trauma that would kill most men,” the doctor replied. “The wounds from that spirit whip damaged not just his flesh but his very life essence. Yet his body is fighting back in ways I’ve never seen. It’s as if he has some innate healing ability that’s keeping him alive.”
“How long?” I rasped after a few sips.
I tried to smile, but even that small movement sent pain shooting through my face. Isabelle winced in sympathy,
I managed a weak nod.
Isabelle sat in the chair next to me, her head resting near my hand. She’d fallen asleep
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watching over me. The sight of her–vulnerable, exhausted, yet still here–made my chest tighten with emotion..
A small, rebellious smile played at her lips. “Grandfather has opinions about many things. I’m learning when to respectfully disagree.”
“I’ve got you,” Isabelle whispered, her arm around my waist surprisingly strong as she guided me toward the waiting car.
Caspian Kane paused, his expression unreadable. “Miss Ashworth?”
“A medical miracle,” a doctor was saying when I next surfaced. “By all rights, he should
be dead.”
Time lost meaning. Pain became my constant companion, ebbing and flowing like a crimson tide. Sometimes I’d catch glimpses–nurses changing bandages, doctors checking charts.
“Tomorrow morning.” She squeezed my hand. “Caspian will stay to ensure your security, and I’ve arranged for the best doctors to oversee your recovery.”
When I finally managed to stay conscious for more than fleeting moments, it was night. The hospital room was dim, lit only by a small lamp beside my bed.
Each step was agony. Blood trailed behind us, marking our path through the dimly lit
corridor.
“I don’t care what Grandfather says. I’m not leaving him.”
Isabelle wiped away her tears with her free hand and nodded. “All right,” she said softly. “I’ll stay. Grandfather can wait another day.”
I focused on her face–the determined set of her jaw, the fierce protectiveness in her eyes. Even in my suffering, I marveled at how quickly she’d come to care for me.
Darkness claimed me once more before I could signal I was listening.
Beeping machines greeted my brief returns to awareness. White walls. Masked faces. Urgent voices.
She nodded. “I couldn’t leave you.”
As she turned toward the door, panic gripped me. The thought of her walking away, of
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returning to a world that would try to separate us forever, was suddenly unbearable.
Isabelle leaned closer. “This isn’t goodbye, Liam. I’ll return as soon as I can.”
I tried to speak, to tell her vengeance wasn’t necessary, but pain consumed me. My legs buckled, and darkness edged my vision.
I wanted to reassure her, to tell her I wasn’t going anywhere, but my body betrayed me. Consciousness slipped away despite my desperate fight to hold on.
She met my gaze, something fierce and determined in her eyes.
“Then I choose to be stupid,” she replied firmly. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“Blood pressure dropping!”
Her hand reached out to gently touch my face, careful to avoid the bruises.
“Liam,” she whispered, leaning closer. “You’re awake.”
“I think you underestimate both yourself and me,” she whispered.
“Go,” Isabelle ordered. “I’ll get Liam to the hospital myself.”
The car ride passed in fragments. Isabelle’s hand squeezing mine. Her urgent voice directing the driver. The world spinning when I tried to open my eyes.
Isabelle stood, smoothing her skirt. “I’ll come say goodbye before I leave in the
morning.”
“When?” I asked.
“Your grandfather must be furious.”
A comfortable silence fell between us. I studied her face in the soft lamplight–the dark circles under her eyes, the slight messiness of her usually perfect hair, the wrinkles in her designer clothes that suggested she hadn’t changed in days.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I reached out and caught her wrist.
I raised an eyebrow at “belongs to,” and she blushed slightly.
She glanced at her watch and sighed reluctantly. “I should let you rest.”
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Relief flooded through me. I tried to thank her, but darkness was closing in again.
“With your family. Following orders. Staying away from the dangerous nobody who keeps causing trouble.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the disappointment tightening my throat.
“How long until he wakes?“.
The last thing I felt was Isabelle gently stroking my hair, her voice a soothing murmur as she promised, “Rest now. I’ll be here when you wake.”
The moment the door closed behind us, Isabelle’s composed facade cracked.
I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry. The small movement of my fingers was enough to wake her.
“Days. Maybe weeks. We simply don’t know.”
And Isabelle. Always Isabelle.
A shadow crossed her face. “Caspian ensured he experienced every pain he inflicted on you. The formation has been destroyed. The Veridia City Martial Guild received a very clear message about touching what belongs to the Ashworth family.”
“The Ashworths have plans for you,” I said, voicing the fear that had been growing since I learned of her family’s power. “Marriage alliances, business partnerships… they won’t let you waste time on someone like me.”
My heart sank, though I tried not to show it. Of course she had to go. The Ashworths didn’t tolerate disobedience for long.
“Almost there,” she encouraged, her voice cracking with emotion. “Just a little further.”
Pain and darkness swallowed me again.
Her words hung in the air between us, heavy with meaning. When she finished helping me adjust, she didn’t return to her chair, instead perching carefully on the edge of my
bed.
“What’s dangerous,” she said quietly as she worked, “is pretending not to care when you do. What’s dangerous is watching someone you…” She paused, then continued
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more softly, “Someone important to you suffer and doing nothing.”
“That sounds dangerous,” I said, trying to shift into a more comfortable position.
Isabelle looked down at her hands. “Where else would I be?”
“Someone like you?” She raised an eyebrow. “You mean the man who saved my life? Who defied the Veridia City Martial Guild? Who survived torture that would kill most cultivators?”
Caspian nodded once before turning back. As the door closed behind him, I heard Gage’s first scream.
Isabelle immediately stood to help me, her hands gentle but sure as she adjusted my pillows and checked my bandages.
“No,” I said firmly, gathering strength to reach for her hand. “My choices. My
consequences.”
“Don’t go,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
She sat back down, bringing my hand to her lips. “My stubborn, impossible man,” she whispered against my fingers.
“This isn’t negotiable. Liam is under our protection. Under my protection.”
“I pushed you into the spotlight,” she confessed, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I pulled you into my world without considering the consequences. This-” her hand gestured to my injured body, “-is my fault.”
“But he’ll recover?” Isabelle’s voice, tight with worry.
Isabelle froze, then slowly turned back to me. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks now, catching the lamplight like diamonds.
A pause.
“I know enough,” I said simply.
“Stay,” I said, fighting to keep my eyes open as exhaustion threatened to pull me back
under.
“You’ve been here the whole time,” I realized aloud.
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In that moment, with her eyes reflecting the soft lamplight and her touch feather–light against my skin, I believed her.
Her head snapped up, eyes instantly alert. When she saw me looking back at her, relief washed over her face.
The question hung between us. How could I explain that from the moment I met her, something had changed in me? That her quiet strength and hidden vulnerability had awakened something protective and fierce in my soul?
“Four days.” Her voice wavered slightly. “The doctors weren’t sure you’d…”
She rarely left my side. Through my haze, I watched her working from a laptop beside my bed, taking calls in hushed tones, sending Caspian on various errands. All while her hand remained on mine, a warm anchor in my sea of pain.
“I’ll wait for you in Veridia City,” she promised. “Once you’ve healed, come find me. There are people there who can help us both understand the power that’s awakening in you.”
“Grandfather has summoned me back to Veridia City,” she said after a moment. “I’ve delayed as long as I can, but there are… family matters that require my attention.”
“How is he still alive?”
And always, Isabelle’s voice, commanding and desperate: “Save him. Whatever it costs,
save him.”
Once, I heard her arguing with someone on the phone.
I shrugged slightly, immediately regretting the movement as pain lanced through my shoulders. “It would be the smart thing to do. I’m a liability to you now.”
“Is that what you think? That I’d abandon you after everything you’ve done for me?”
“Why are you here?” I asked. The question had been burning in my mind since I first saw her rescue me.
“Then tell Corbin to come remove me himself. I’d like to see him try.”
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209 Chapter 209–Retribution and a Faint Plea
“Don’t push yourself,” she said, gently adjusting my pillow. “The doctor said you need complete rest.”
“You know what I mean,” she said, straightening in her chair.
“Start another IV!”
“Stay with me,” she pleaded, pressing a cloth to my wounds. “We’re almost at the hospital. Don’t you dare give up now.”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t need to.
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