What Was Once Mine

Sonia's white dress was stained and dirty, and she wept so hard that the tip of her nose turned red. She looked like a bunny that had accidentally hopped into a wolves' den.

The leering lunatics were even more riled up at the sight of the fat tears that rolled down Sonia's face. "Boss, can't we get a taste of this beauty before we hurt her? She's practically begging us to do it."

I cut through the last of the ropes binding me just before the men could drag Sonia away. Careening forward, I headbutted the blond ringleader with the scarred face out of the way, then pulled Sonia behind me.

"Witch! What the heck are you guys standing there for? Get her!" The man clapped a hand over his nose and, with an angry roar, set his lackeys on us. "Beat those witches up until they can't walk! Then we can have some fun with them!"

It was one against four. With such poor odds, all I could do was shield Sonia with my body. She kept trying to shove me aside and beg the men to stop, yelling in between sobs, "Stop! Ma'am, please… Stop fighting! Stop fighting…"

Her voice was thick with devastation.

The next second, the metal door of the warehouse entrance was knocked down with a loud bang, and an SUV sped in. The violent cacophony of gunshots filled the air, and everyone turned toward the entryway.

Gabriel bolted for Sonia and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Thank goodness you're okay."

Sonia had cried herself hoarse and passed out before the ropes binding her were undone. Gabriel carried her into the ambulance, tenderly smoothing down her hair.

I heaved myself to my feet, only to meet Gabriel's icy, menacing gaze. My heart sank.

"Maeve Emerson," he bit out quietly, but my blood ran cold anyway. "Why were you with Sonia?"

I swallowed, tasting copper, then forced a bitter smile. "Would you believe me if I told you I met her by coincidence?"

A hard slap cracked across my face, and I fell back to the ground.

"When did you join the church, Maeve?" Gabriel hissed.

I spat out a mouthful of blood but refrained from telling Gabriel about the requiem service I'd requested for our baby. He stepped on my fingers, bearing his weight down on them. The sharp pain had me screaming.

"When did you start planning all of this?" he demanded.

"I didn't plan anything!"

Gabriel turned and shot the man with the scarred face in the thigh, then aimed the gun at his head. "Is that true?"

The man with the scarred face cried out in pain as he pointed at me with a shaking finger. "M-Ms. Emerson came to me and offered to pay me to hurt Sonia so she could get revenge!"

"You're lying!" I seethed, but one of Gabriel's men pinned me down by my shoulders.

Gabriel chuckled maliciously, then pulled the trigger and shot the man with the scarred face in the head, killing him. After that, he crouched and gripped my hand.

"Maeve, it's only right that you pay the price for hurting someone precious to me. An eye for an eye, right?"

With a crack, he broke my index finger.

I screamed, the pain making black spots dance in my vision. I spasmed all over as Gabriel rose to his feet and straightened his clothes, ordering indifferently, "Break the rest of them. Now."

The simple order was met with swift obedience from his men, who pinned me roughly against an oil barrel and forcefully pried my hands open.

I screamed hysterically, "Gabriel! I hate you! I never should have saved you ten years ago!"

Gabriel froze on his way out, but my words weren't enough to make him look back.

As agony washed over me, I thought about the first song I played for Gabriel. He'd gotten down on one knee beside me and clasped my hands, saying tenderly, "I love seeing you like this, Maeve."

I'd saved him and trapped myself in a horrible nightmare ten years ago. Ten years later, he personally broke my finger, and with it, the last thing that tied us together.

…

As I lay in the abandoned warehouse at three in the morning with my fingers splayed in awkward, broken angles, my men hurried in with medical equipment.

The warehouse behind me was set ablaze. As the fire burned and ravaged the building, I leaned into my seat and called the person coordinating my plans.

"Have a ship wait for me at the port and draw up all the paperwork for a new identity for me. I want the name 'Maeve Emerson' to completely disappear from this world."