Chapter 60 THE SCENT OF HER
Varkos
My heart thundered violently against my ribs as I stepped inside, my wolf stirring violently, colliding in frantic alertness.
“Ginnie!” I called out, my voice thundering through the room like a blade. “Ginnie! Where are you!”
Nothing.
No movement. Not even a single sound of breath to show that she was still inside. My eyes swept over every inch with ruthless precision— the bed was unmade, the sheets twisted violently and dragged toward the edge as if someone had fallen hard against them—or been thrown.
The pillow lay on the floor, half crushed beneath a boot print that obviously didn’t belong to her. The chair had been overturned near the table, one leg snapped clean in half, while the other splintered, leaving wood littering the floor.
“Ginnie!” I yelled again, louder now, panic clawing its way into my voice despite my effort to keep control. Meanwhile, Lily’s fingers dug deeper into my sleeve, her small fragile body trembling so hard I could feel it through my clothes.
“She was here,” Lily sobbed, her voice breaking with every word. “Ginnie was right here…she told me to run…”
Her words collapsed into broken cries. Before my brain could think, I released Lily gently, forcing myself to move even as something dark and suffocating pressed down on my lungs.
I scanned the room with a predator’s focus, every corner that I never even knew had existed in here. The washroom is empty. Behind the door—still nothing. I dropped to one knee, my heart hammering as I checked the shadows.
Still nothing.
“Fuck!” I cursed under my breath, rage coiling tight in my gut like a live wire. “No, no, no…” This room was too small, Ginnie wouldn’t have left on her own. Definitely not like this.
My gaze dragged back across the floor slowly, forcing myself not to rush, not to miss anything, and that was when my eyes landed on it.
A dark smear.
At first glance, it looked like dirt—just a faint streak across the marble stone floor, almost invisible unless you looked extremely closely as if someone had dragged their fingers through dust.
What the—
My breath hitched sharply as I moved closer, each step deliberate, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. It was…blood.
Not a pool. Not splattered.
A trail.
Broken, uneven, streaked across the stone floor as if whoever had been bleeding hadn’t been walking—rather it had been forcefully dragged away. My fingers hovered just above the stain for a split second, then I touched it.
Warm.
Still warm.
My jaw clenched violently as I brought my hand closer and inhaled deeply. The scent hit me like a blade through the chest.
Ginnie.
This is Ginnie’s blood!
My whole world tilted violently, my balance faltering as my wolf surged forward with a savage roar inside my skull. It wasn’t just blood, it was all of her fear, sharp and raw, the pain that the bastard must have put her through—soaked into it.
“I’m going to kill that Motherfucker!”
A low, guttural sound tore from my throat before I could stop it. Someone had dared to take her in my own house…even dared to hurt her. But that someone was about to die a very painful death at my hands.
“Lily,” I said sharply, forcing my voice into something steady as I rose to my feet. “Look at me.”
Lily was still crying, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably, her tiny fragile hands shaking as she tried—and failed to wipe the tears away from her eyes. I knelt in front of her, gripping her shoulders gently but firmly until she met my eyes.
“I need you to listen very carefully,” I said. “You’re going to stay here.”
“No…please..” her head shook violently, “Mister Varkos…I want to help you…I don’t want to be alone—”
“You will help me by doing exactly what I say,” I cut in, my tone firm but not unkind. “Lock this door and do not open it for anyone. Not my mother. Not Kenna. Not even the guards. No one.”
“But…what if they hurt you too?”
The question landed harder than I expected.
I didn’t answer it.
Instead, I reached for her, pulling her into my arms before I could stop myself in a movement that surprised both of us. Her small body collapsed against my chest instantly, sobs tearing out of her as she clutched my shirt with tiny fists.
I could smell her fear pouring into me like poison. Something cracked open inside my chest—something I hadn’t realized was still alive.
“I’ll find Ginnie,” I murmured, my voice soft now. “I swear on my life.”
Lily shook violently against me. “Please don’t let her die…”
I pulled back instantly before she could finish her words, the weight of what I was doing crashing down hard. I straightened, forcing my usual cold demon back into place, “Lock the door,” I repeated. “Now.”
She nodded shakily as I stepped away.
Then I turned, following the blood trail out of the room. The trail grew fainter here, smeared and splattered unevenly across the stone, leading deeper into the older part of the villa—areas long abandoned, places even the slaves avoided.
My footsteps echoed too loudly as I moved faster. Toward the storage wing. Of course, this place was the only reasonable explanation of where someone who really wanted to hurt Ginnie would have taken her.
A heavy iron door loomed ahead—one that was usually kept locked, untouched for years, but someone had forced it open. The hinges creaked softly as I shoved it aside, and that is when the smell hit me instantly.
Blood.
My breath stalled as I stepped inside.
The room was dim, light filtering through only by a narrow window high on the wall, dust floating lazily through the weak light. And then—
My heart stopped.
On the cold stone floor lay a heap of fabric.
Ginnie’s clothes.
Her dress—torn nearly in half, soaked so thoroughly in blood it was impossible to tell where the fabric ended and the stain began. Her apron lay twisted beside it, shredded as if claws had ripped straight through it.
“What the hell happened here?”