HE’D MISSED MY eye, but the pain from the slashes was unbearable. My mother had said that the wards would hurt as they unraveled, but they didn’t hurt as much as Duncan’s betrayal. He’d been in pain, I told myself. He knew that if I saw his face there would be no chance of his being freed from the enchantment, but what kind of monster was he?

The thought made the slashes across my face throb and the barbed coils tighten around my heart. I had to get inside and tend to my wounds … find a healing spell … or call Diana. I tried to get to my feet, but slipped on the wet floorboards and fell painfully to my knees, my limbs flailing, weak and helpless. Instead of gaining power from cutting the wards, I’d crippled myself. What if they had become so intertwined with who I was I couldn’t live without them? What if my chains had become the strongest part of me?

Clinging to the porch rail, I struggled to my feet, took a tentative step toward the door and fell flat on my face.

I turned my damaged cheek away from the floorboards. The rain was blowing onto the porch now, soaking my face. All I could think of was how Duncan had struck me and left me. My tears mingled with the rain, stinging the cuts on my face … and then I felt a hand on my back and one on my face.

Strong warm hands moved down my back, my legs, my arms, their touch gentle but firm, feeling, I thought, for broken bones.

I’m broken inside, I wanted to shout, but I couldn’t. Razor wire gripped my throat. Besides, I liked how these hands felt. They were turning me over now, cradling my face, stroking wet hair away from the gashes. A face came blurrily into focus. Not Duncan.

“Bill?” I managed in a hoarse croak.

He looked up, startled, his brown eyes flaring like hot coals.

“Who did this?” he growled. His anger transformed him from unassuming handyman to something quite different. For a moment I was frightened, but then he cupped his hand around my face and the fear slipped away – but not his anger. “Was it that blond man?”

“’scomplicated,” I managed.