Chapter 311
Avery’s POV
I lay there for a long moment, staring at Deirdre’s still form.
She wasn’t moving.
I crawled over to her and pressed my fingers against her neck, searching for a pulse. I didn’t feel anything.
I looked up at my mom, too stunned to speak. She stared back, still gagged, but my realization was reflected in her watery eyes.
I’d killed Deirdre.
Gideon would never forgive this. He would lock me up. Throw me in the dungeons. Maybe even execute me for murdering someone in his pack.
It didn’t matter that she’d been trying to kill me and my mother. It didn’t matter that she’d escaped custody and taken a hostage. All that would matter was that I’d killed her.
And Gideon would take my baby away.
The thought of my child being taken from me was far worse than the threat of imprisonment. He would take my child and raise it without me. I would rot in a cell while he moved on with his life, his precious heir in hand.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I forced myself to stand. My shoulder screamed where the knife had gone in, but I ignored it. I stumbled over to my mother and removed her gag, then started working at the ropes.
“We have to go,” I said. My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was flat and distant beneath the rushing of blood in my ears, “We have to leave. Right now.”
“What?”
“I just killed Deirdre.” The ropes came loose, and my mother slumped forward. I caught her before she could fall. “And when Gideon finds out, he’ll come for me. For us. For my baby,”
My mother’s eyes widened, She looked past me at Deirdre’s body, then back at me.” Avery, sweetheart, no. It was self-defense. He’ll understand-”
“He won’t.” I helped her to her feet. “He doesn’t love me, Mom. He never did. He
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only wanted the baby. And now that I’ve killed someone in his pack, he’ll have every reason to lock me up and take my child.”
“But
“We’re going to the human lands. Tonight.” I looked around the greenhouse, my mind racing. “But first, I need to make sure he doesn’t follow us.”
I couldn’t just disappear. Gideon would search for me. He would tear apart every comer of the territory until he found me. I’d seen how relentless he could be.
So I needed to make him think I was dead.
I reached into my pocket, searching for the nightshade berries, but they were gone- likely fell out at some point during the altercation, or before that. It didn’t matter, anyway. I couldn’t leave my body behind; Gideon would know when I woke up from the berries’ effects. I had to think of something else.
I knelt down beside Deirdre and, wincing, I smeared my fingers across the wound on my shoulder. The pain was immediate and sharp, making me gnash my teeth, but I managed to gather enough blood and smear it onto Deirdre’s throat, making it look like I’d bled onto her during the altercation.
Then, I began to remove my shirt.
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