Chapter 99 Talisman

VALERIE

Long after, when Xavier had taken me back to his study, I sat wrapped in a blanket with a cup of hot tea. Despite my warmth, I could not stop shivering.

I had killed someone. Hadn’t I? I’d stabbed him and heard his groans of pain. I had felt his hand reach out and grab my ankle, and I had kicked him fiercely and ran with Lucia in tow. I had smelled his blood—felt it on my face. I had killed him.

I had killed him.

“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered, my fingers numb around my cup. “He was…evil. I know. But I didn’t mean to kill him.”

Xavier touched the back of my head, his palm large and warm, his fingers stroking through my hair. “It’s alright, Valerie.”

He had worn a worried expression the entire time I was being examined by medics, and even after—now that I was cleared as unharmed, Xavier did not ease the worry on his face.

Alyssa shared the same look. But hers was far more bothered. Her brows furrowed deeply in thought, and she opened her mouth occasionally to speak, but