Chapter 108: Malice

Cecilia

I tried to scream, but the figure lunged forward and clamped a hand over my mouth before any sound could escape.

My eyes finally focused enough to recognize him—Matthias, my mother's companion, the one she'd brought to the party. The realization hit like ice water, shocking and terrible, cutting through the fog in my mind.

I struggled, tried to push him away, but my body wouldn't cooperate. My limbs felt heavy, disconnected, like they belonged to someone else. My muscles wouldn't respond the way they should, wouldn't give me the strength I desperately needed.

Arthur, I thought frantically. Arthur, please—

Matthias's hands were at my dress now, pulling at the fabric, and I felt tears streaming down my face as I fought against both him and my own useless body.

The dress—thank god for Alice's choice—was fitted and structured, with a complicated back closure that didn't give easily. He fumbled with it, growing frustrated, his breathing harsh and urgent in the quiet room.

I kept struggling, kept trying to make my arms work, my legs move, anything—

A knock at the door.

"Ceci?" Alice's voice, bright and concerned. "It's been thirty minutes. Are you asleep? I'm coming in."

Matthias froze, his eyes going wide with panic.

The door handle turned.

Alice pushed the door open, took one look at the scene—me pinned on the bed with tears streaming down my face, my dress half-torn, Matthias hovering over me—and screamed.

The sound was piercing, terrified, and it cut through the house like a knife.

"What the fuck—HELP!" Her voice cracked with horror. "Someone help!"

Footsteps thundered in the hallway. Multiple sets, running.

Matthias scrambled off me, tried to bolt for the door, but Alice was blocking it, still screaming, and then Max was there, shouldering past her, his face going from confusion to fury in the space of a heartbeat.

Carter appeared behind him, and then—

Arthur.

I'd never seen that expression on his face before. Something cold and lethal and completely beyond reason, his eyes locked on Matthias with a focus that made everything else in the room disappear.

Matthias tried to run. Got maybe three steps before Arthur's fist connected with his jaw with a sickening crack that echoed through the room.

Matthias went down hard, and Arthur followed him, his hands finding the man's collar, hauling him up only to hit him again, and again, each blow precise and devastating.

"Arthur—" Carter's voice, sharp with concern. "Arthur, that's enough—"

But Arthur wasn't listening. He hit Matthias one more time, hard enough that the man's head snapped back and he went completely limp, unconscious before he hit the floor.

Then Arthur was at the bed, his hands gentle despite the violence still radiating from him, pulling me upright and into his arms.

"Ceci." His voice was shaking. "Ceci, look at me. Are you hurt? Did he—"

I couldn't answer. Couldn't make my mouth form words. I just clung to him and sobbed, my whole body trembling, the room spinning around me.

"It's okay," he murmured, holding me tighter. "You're safe. I've got you. You're safe."

Behind us, I heard Carter's voice, firm and authoritative. "Everyone stay back. The situation is under control. Please return to your rooms."

But not everyone listened.

"What's going on?" Irene Winston's voice, sharp and imperious, cutting through the chaos. "Arthur, what is the meaning of—"

She stopped dead in the doorway, taking in the scene—Matthias unconscious on the floor, me crying in Arthur's arms with my dress torn, Alice standing near the door with her hands pressed to her mouth.

And beside Irene, my mother.

Her face went through several expressions in rapid succession—shock, calculation, and then something that looked almost like resignation as she realized what had happened, what had failed to happen.

"Oh my god," she said, but her voice was wrong, too flat, too practiced. "Cecilia, are you—what did you do to Matthias?"

Arthur's arms tightened around me. When he spoke, his voice was deadly quiet. "What did she do?"

"She must have—" My mother's eyes darted between me and Matthias. "She must have led him on, must have invited him up here—"

"Get out," Arthur said, his voice dropping to something I'd never heard before, something that made even Irene take a step back.

"Arthur, be reasonable—" Irene started.

"I said get out." He stood, keeping me wrapped in his arms, his eyes moving between his mother and mine. "Both of you. Now."

"You can't possibly think—" My mother's voice was rising now, defensive. "I don't know what Cecilia told you, but—"

"That man," Arthur said, gesturing to Matthias's unconscious form, "is someone you brought to this house. Someone you introduced as your companion. So either you're complicit in what just happened, or you're so monumentally stupid that you brought a predator into my home without realizing it."

He paused, his eyes cold. "Which is it, Evelyn?"

My mother's mouth opened and closed. "I—he must have—she must have seduced him, must have—"

"Max," Arthur said, not looking away from my mother. "Take Mrs. Gray to one of the guest rooms. Lock the door. She's not leaving this estate until we figure out exactly what happened here."

"With pleasure," Max said, his voice hard.

"You can't keep me here!" My mother's composure cracked completely. "You have no right—"

"I have every right." Arthur's voice was steel. "This is my home, and you brought that piece of shit into it. So you're going to stay right here until the police arrive and we sort this out."

He turned to his mother, who'd been standing frozen in the doorway, her face carefully blank. "As for you—""I had nothing to do with this," Irene said quickly, but something flickered in her eyes.

"Then you won't mind staying as well," Arthur said. "Just until we're certain."

"Arthur, I'm your mother—"

He held me tight, ignoring her.

Carter appeared at the door, slightly out of breath. "The other guests are leaving. Richard and his family are already gone—Daniel wanted to stay, but his parents insisted. Most everyone else is heading out now."

"Good." Arthur looked down at me, his expression softening. "Carter, can you call the police? And get Dr. Morrison here. I don't care what time it is or what he's doing. Tell him it's an emergency."

"On it," Carter said, already pulling out his phone.

Alice moved closer, her face pale but determined. "Ceci, honey, are you okay?"

I tried to answer, tried to form words, but nothing came out. My throat felt tight and my tongue was thick and the room kept tilting in ways that didn't make sense.

"She can't talk," Arthur said quietly, his hand stroking my hair. "Something's wrong. The way she's moving, the way she's looking at me—"

"The wine," Alice said suddenly. "The wine her mother brought. Ceci drank a lot of it."

Arthur's expression went very still. "Get me that bottle. Now."