Venom & Virtue

chapter 40

No matter how hard I tried to sleep, it was impossible.

My mind was too busy running on overdrive, worrying both about what was happening downstairs, and about Draco in general.

It was a few hours later when the faint tinkling of a piano came drifting under my door, piquing my curiosity.

I slipped out of the wide bed, deciding it was better to give up on rest and investigate the source of the noise instead.

My feet padded along the hallway again, the portraits still asleep as I descended the stairs to the ground floor.

The piano was a lot louder now, echoing off the stone walls and cold tile of the ground; a sad melody compiled of higher notes.

I drifted down an unfamiliar corridor, following the tune until I reached a large oak door that had been left ajar.

I slipped inside, finding myself in a long room, lit only by a few candles and the natural moonlight outside.

Some of the windows had been opened, their white linen curtains billowing from the breeze, filling the grand space with a glacial temperature that raised goosebumps on my skin.

The room was entirely empty of furniture, apart from a grand piano and a stool placed in the centre.

I frowned as I spotted Draco's hunched form perched there, his nimble fingers drifting over the keys with practiced ease.

I closed the door quietly behind me, casting a quick muffliato to prevent the music from waking the rest of the household, before I eased my limbs with a warming charm.

My bare feet began to walk across the space, careful not to approach too quickly, as if I were cornering a terrified animal.

Once I neared, my eyes flickered up to a crystal tumbler on the top of the instrument, a ring of dark liquid around it, the distinct scent of firewhisky permeating the air.

I came to a stop close by, noting the broad slope of his shoulders, inky tattoos and tense muscles prominent through the white translucence of his shirt.

I called his name gently, watching as he froze, the music silenced once his form turned, revealing his face.

I inhaled a sharp breath as I took in the sight, the usual delicate beauty now an image of harsh brutality.

Several areas of his face and neck were covered by ugly mottled bruises, scarlet and purple swirling together in a sickening display of abuse.

His lips had a long diagonal scar splitting the skin, as if Lucius had slashed across them with a knife, thin and swift.

Even his nose had been damaged in some inhumane way, a trickle of dried blood underneath his nostril, the skin raw and pink.

My eyes poured across all the inflicted damage, before coming to meet his own; their grey tone seemed to have disappeared entirely, replaced by bottomless pits.

The entirety of the white scleras were now heavily bloodshot, red veins running across them like rivers on a map.

We stared at one another for a lifetime, understanding and agony and wrath passing between us, all unspoken and simply known.

His deranged expression didn't waver as I looked upon him, the intensity merely burning further into me, his magic emanating in heavy tidal waves that felt almost choking.

I didn't say anything, simply drifting nearer and hitching up the silk of my nightgown as I straddled his lap across the stool.

He didn't speak either, instead, choosing to wind his arms around my back, pulling me closer as I lifted my hands shakily up his chest, eventually reaching the shirt collar.