Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the Dark #2)(108)

“Q! Please, Q.” I scrambled to my feet, wringing my hands as Franco undid Q’s wrists and gently brought his hands to rest by his sides. Q winced and groaned as Suzette rushed forward with one of the discarded sheets, placing it over him.

Suzette never took her eyes off me, raining with sorrow and disbelief. “Why, Tess. Why? After everything he’s done for you.”

I rushed forward. I had to hold him. Tell him how sorry I was. But Franco shoved me back. “I think you’ve done more than enough, don’t you?”

“But… I have to f—fix this. I didn’t mean to. You have t—to believe me!” My body shook with wracking sobs—I’d never cried so hard. Not when I was raped or kidnapped or made to do such horrendous things. I cried as if my soul would explode from my body at any moment and leave me dead on the carpet.

Turned out I wouldn’t die from guilt, but from a broken heart.

Q groaned softly, licking his broken lips. “Le—let her be.”

Suzette cried harder while Franco spun to face him, ducking lower to hear. “I’ll call the doctor. We’ll get you help.” He ordered Suzette, “Go and get Dr. Peterson in here. Now.”

Suzette blanched white with shock, but she did as she was told, flying out of the room.

My heart stabbed with self-loathing and my legs wobbled as I darted past Franco to reach the bed. My eyes locked with Q’s and I wailed.

The last barrier unlocked inside, letting forth all the wrongness left inside me. I awoke from the final haze of vacancy, my tower tumbled to the ground in a clatter of rubble, and my mind swarmed with everything that I’d done.

“Q!” I threw myself on the bed, wincing at his cool skin, his sticky blood. Franco wrenched me off. “Get away.” Looping his arms around my chest, he hauled me backward, heading toward the exit.

“No! I need to stay. I need to fix this.” But his grip never yielded. I scrambled at the doorframe.

“Wait,” a thready voice demanded.

Franco froze; I trembled in his locked embrace. “Q. I’m so sorry. I don’t know. I don’t—”

Q sucked in a breath, hoisting himself up to rest on his elbows. Tracks of tears smudged the blood on his face. He smiled so sweetly, so full of unconditional love, I broke further in Franco’s arms.

“Bring her here,” Q ordered.

After a pause, Franco scooped me up and took me to Q. He placed me on the bed. I could barely see through my tears. I couldn’t breathe properly from crying so hard, but Q gingerly put his arm around me, holding me weakly against his beaten body. “I forgive you. I did it for you. Don’t cry.”

The unequivocal acceptance set a denotation in my stomach. It mushroom-clouded until it filled my chest, my throat, until it erupted in my brain. The sobs battered me harder, granting a perfect release.

Q pressed his lips against my forehead, murmuring, “Je t’aime, Tess. Je t’aime.” I love you.

Pain squeezed; I sucked in air, but I was suffocated by the overpowering need to purge.

I cried like I’d never cried before.

Burrowing deep into Q’s side, I let go of everything.

I drenched the bed and let my soul free.

I sobbed myself into nightmares.

*****

“You’re hereby sentenced to life in prison. You almost beat a man to death. Your lover. The one you’re supposed to protect and adore above all else. What do you have to say for your crimes?”

The magistrate with his big overzealous white wig glared down at me. I stood on a tiny podium with rolling waves of magma and lava licking at my ankles. It burned, and I knew I would suffer flames and incarnation for eternity.

“I have nothing to say. I did what you said. I deserve to be punished forever.”

The magistrate nodded, looking down his nose. “And forever you shall suffer. You will never love, never be happy. Your smiles will always be laced with sadness, your heart always layered with grief.”

I bowed my head, wanting to hurl myself into the lava. To end my misery, end my shitty life where I hurt so many. “Yes. Punish me. Make me suffer.”

“A thousand years in hell. Where you will rot in fire.” The gravel came down.

A black shadow swirled in like a nasty typhoon, snuffing out the waves of fire and stealing the heat of hell. “I’m the one she gave her life to. She’s mine, and I say she doesn’t deserve to be punished.”

I daren't lift my eyes to such a kind reprieve. Instead, I hunched into a ball, pressing my forehead to my knees.

“Tu es à moi.” You are mine. A firm hand landed on my shoulder. “Your life is mine, and I say I’m not ready to give you up.”

I raised my eyes to meet my saviour and cried hot ugly tears. Even though I almost killed him, Q stood before me in an immaculate black suit with a soft smile on his sculpted lips. No open wounds or oozing blood. He was utterly perfect.

He crouched beside me and cupped my cheek. “It’s over, Tess. It’s in the past. Our future is where we live now.” He kissed my lips, whispering, “Wake up, esclave. Wake up. Don’t leave me. Not after everything we’ve been through.

“Wake up.

“Wake—”

My eyes cracked open, gritty and sore. A brief sense of confusion crushed me before I connected with a pale jade gaze.