Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

about Judith’s whereabouts. In a single cell she had created tiny replicas of torment so detailed he knew her spirit had merged with her brother’s as he lay dying and she felt every cut, every burn, just as he had.
    A burning flame took fire in his gut. His mind snarled and raged with murderous intent. His body crawled with the need to avenge the murder of Paul Henderson. Murderous rage for Stefan was unfamiliar. He killed coldly. Without emotion. His feelings had long ago been stamped out of him. Until Judith he hadn’t realized he had such a well of passion to draw from.
    This—this need to make La Roux suffer had to come from Judith, not from him. His hands didn’t shake, his body didn’t coil tight, his brain never roared for the kill. She’d poured those emotions into this room, and then trapped them here and his spirit always absorbed hers. He was soaking those darker sentiments into his body.
    Taking a breath, Stefan managed to push the rage down deep as he fit the cell into the large kaleidoscope and added the portable ultraviolet light. The wand fit into the cylinder and illuminated the cell. Placing his eye to the glass he turned the cell. The scenes were duplicated in a starburst pattern through the mirror system so that he saw the torture as if he was looking through a macabre nightmare, probably in the way Judith had to revisit the memory when she closed her eyes at night. He turned the cell.
    Instantly a great cosmos burst through all the blood and gore and rage like a wild primordial mix of pure emotions. The pinpoints of exploding stars unwittingly revealed Judith’s character no matter how hard she tried to conceal it from herself and the sight was raw beauty and yet terrifying. Chaos reigned, and still there was order. Passionate hatred and love mixed together in a swirl of stark, raw emotion no other human had the right to witness. He was looking into Judith’s exposed soul.
    He saw the truth of what and who she was. She had spent five long years working up her anger and need for revenge because Jean-Claude La Roux deserved to pay for what he’d done, yet her true essence always prevailed. The light in her, the compassion and natural brightness refused to be dimmed. She trapped those dark emotions in one room and tried to live there, tried to separate herself, become something she wasn’t and could never be, but he knew when he viewed each separate cell he would see those bursting rays of light spreading over the dark, hostile buildup of her need to take revenge.
    The shame and guilt she felt was not as much over the death of her brother and the policeman—she’d worked through her responsibility over the years, and had obviously come to the conclusion that the circumstances were beyond her abilities at that time. But shame and guilt had grown in this room, stayed hidden here, like a terrible wound she couldn’t cauterize. She was incapable of making another human being suffer. She certainly couldn’t kill someone. He had no doubt she would defend herself and those she loved passionately, but to kill cold-bloodedly was an impossibility for a woman with her character, and deep down, she knew it.
    Judith wanted to avenge her brother, she even felt she should, but she was not the kind of woman who would ever do such a thing and guilt ate at her constantly. She felt as though she were letting him down all over again. It was no wonder she didn’t sleep.
    It had been natural for Judith to call on her older brother to help her out of a bad situation. He’d raised her after her parents had died. He’d been the one she’d always counted on and of course he had rushed to help her. She probably closed her eyes and saw him looking at her accusingly. In her painting, Paul’s eyes had been wide open, staring at his sister as the life ran out of him and she saw his indictment of her guilt. Stefan knew better, knew that was her conscience talking.
    The revelation brought out those protective instincts he hadn’t known existed until Judith, every bit as raw and stark and passionate as her wild chaotic emotions. He needed to wrap himself tightly around her and shield her from outside eyes until she could bring the two halves of her spirit back together. She had to forgive herself for being gentle and kind. For being compassionate. Judith didn’t seem to realize the world would be a much better place populated with people like her instead of people like him.
    She feared her own passionate