Vengeance in His Bed

The grey afternoon sky hung low over the Freenly City burial grounds, heavy with the threat of rain that never quite fell. The air was freezing, biting through clothing and carrying the damp scent of overturned earth. It was a bleak, desolate place, made worse by the silence that surrounded the small group gathered near the freshly dug grave.

Jannah stood trembling, her knees buckling beneath her. She felt completely hollow, stripped of everything she had ever known. Aside from the three men standing around her, there was no one left who even knew her name. Her grandfather had been her last piece of shelter in the world, and now he was about to be buried under six feet of cold mud. Himelda had flatly refused to attend, making her disgust clear; she wanted nothing to do with a girl from the slums, let alone watch her son bind himself to her. So it was just them. Jannah, Dorrent, his father Guron, and Shadron.

As the undertakers began to lower the simple wooden casket into the earth, the finality of it crashed over Jannah like a physical blow. She couldn’t breathe. Her vision blurred, tears spilling over her hot, flushed cheeks as a ragged sob tore from her throat. Her body shook violently, her hands coming up to cover her face as she threatened to collapse right onto the grass.

Before her knees could touch the ground, Dorrent’s arms wrapped around her waist from behind. He hauled her back against his broad chest, anchoring her trembling frame against the heat of his body.

"I’m here, Jannah," Dorrent whispered against her ear, his breath hot against the freezing wind. "I’ve got you. Just lean on me."

The sound of his voice, combined with the suffocating warmth of his presence, snapped something inside her grieving soul. Fury, hot and sudden, cut through her sorrow. She began to twist within his grasp, her elbows digging backward into his ribs as she tried to wiggle out of his hold. "Let go of me! Get your hands off me!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with pain.

When he refused to loosen his grip, keeping his arms locked around her waist like iron bands, Jannah turned completely in his embrace. She raised her fists and began to rain blows against his chest and shoulders. She hit him over and over again, her knuckles bruising against his hard muscles, but Dorrent didn’t even flinch. He stood completely still, his eyes dark and unreadable, absorbing every single bit of her grief without moving an inch.

"You caused all of this!" Jannah wept, her voice breaking into hysterical sobs as she continued to strike his chest, her strength rapidly fading into exhaustion. "If you had never come into my life, if you had just left me in the slums where I belonged, Duro would still be alive! You brought your danger, your enemies, and your sickness to our door! You destroyed him! You took the only person who loved me!"

"Hit me if it makes you feel better," Dorrent murmured, his voice steady as he gently guided her head to rest against his shoulder, ignoring her weak shuffles. "But I’m not letting you go."

Eventually, her fists grew weak, her fingers clutching his lapels out of exhaustion rather than anger. As the final mounds of dirt were shoveled over the grave, the few distant onlookers and workers began to clear out, leaving the grounds empty. Guron Grefo gave his son a single, calculated look before turning on his heel and walking toward his own private vehicle, leaving the three younger people behind.

Jannah couldn’t bear to stand near the grave for another second. The moment Dorrent’s grip relaxed slightly, she tore herself away from him, wiping her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. She walked straight toward the open door of the car parked on the gravel path. Ignoring Dorrent completely, she climbed into the back seat and slid right next to Shadron, who sat quietly, watching the tension unfold with a concerned frown.

Jannah watched as Dorrent didn’t immediately follow her. Instead, his tall, imposing figure turned back toward the fresh mound of earth. He walked slowly back to Duro’s grave, stopping right at the edge of the dirt.

Jannah watched his broad back shift as he stood over the dead man. She wondered bitterly what a monster like him could possibly have to say to her grandfather.

Dorrent looked down at the grave, his hands resting in the pockets of his coat. His jaw clenching tightly as the freezing wind whipped his hair across his forehead.

"Thank you for leaving your granddaughter in my hands, old man," Dorrent said, his voice a low rumble intended only for the quiet earth. "I know you passed away worried about her safety, but I give you my word as a Grefo: I will protect her from everything and everyone in this world. I will give her every single thing she could ever ask for, and I will be her whole family on earth now that she has no one else. Have no worries wherever you are. She is in safe hands. I am willing to die for her to ensure she stays safe."

He paused, a dark shadow crossing his handsome features as the words his mother had spoken days ago echoed in the back of his mind. The dark rumors of his own past, the black cycle that had stolen his sanity nine years ago.

"And... I’m sorry," Dorrent muttered, his chest rising and falling heavily. "I’m sorry if by any chance my past madness caused the death of Jannah’s parents. If it turns out to be true, if I am the reason she grew up an orphan... I will spend the rest of my days repenting to her. I will ask for her forgiveness every single day, and I will do everything in my power to make her forget the pain of losing them. And as for you... I will find out who caused your death, and I will slaughter them."

Turning away from the grave, Dorrent began his long, slow stride back toward the car where Jannah and Shadron were waiting. The burial grounds were completely deserted now, the eerie silence of the countryside stretching out around them.

But before Dorrent could even reach the gravel path, the quiet was shattered.

From the dense bushes lining the edge of the cemetery path, a tall, masked man rushed forward with terrifying speed. He didn’t hesitate for a single second. Lunging through the open door of the car, his gloved hand reached inside, grabbing Jannah by the hair and pulling her forcefully out onto the gravel.

"Ah! Let go of me!" Jannah screamed, her voice cutting through the air as she was violently yanked backward.

The masked man slammed his arm around her neck, pulling her tight against his chest in a suffocating chokehold. With his other hand, he whipped out a handgun, pointing it at Dorrent’s chest, while simultaneously pulling a combat knife from his belt and pressing the cold edge right against Jannah’s soft throat.

"Nobody move!" the masked man roared, his voice distorted beneath the fabric of his mask as he glared at Dorrent and then at Shadron, who was already scrambling out of the driver’s seat. "Don’t you dare take another step, tycoon! Back off right now, both of you, or I will slit this girl’s throat right here over her granddad’s grave!"

Shadron froze by the car door, his hands raised slightly, his face pale with sudden shock. "Dorrent, hold on..." he muttered, his eyes darting to the knife biting into Jannah’s neck.

Surprisingly, Dorrent didn’t look bothered at all. He stopped walking, standing still on the gravel path just ten feet away. His expression was a flawless, freezing mask of arrogance, his eyes devoid of fear as he looked at the gunman. His posture was relaxed, almost bored, though the air around him began to drop rapidly in temperature as his hidden pressure began to leak.

"You won’t kill the girl," Dorrent said flatly, his voice smooth and entirely calm "I know you can’t touch a single hair on her head. If she dies, your boss loses everything he’s fighting for. So put the knife away."

The masked man’s arm trembled slightly with rage, his grip tightening around Jannah’s neck until she choked for air. "Don’t talk so much, Grefo! Just because I can’t kill the girl doesn’t mean I can’t put a bullet through your skull! Don’t tempt me!"

Dorrent took a slow breath, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits. "Let go of the girl and leave in one piece already," he delivered. "If you drop your weapons now, I might let you leave this cemetery alive. If you don’t, you will bleed out on this grass."

"I am leaving with the girl!" the man shouted back, his eyes wild behind the mask. "That is the only way out of here!"