Chapter 100. In the Heat of Battle

Rhys POV

Despite how drained the news made me, I broke into a run, beating Mars to the library. Her servant friends stood outside the door in tears, probably not permitted to go in.

I peeled the door off its hinges, throwing it down the stairs.

“I said, no one should come in unless I—my Lord!” Fitz bowed from where he was on his knees. He was crying harsh tears, but it was nothing dramatic like before.

A bed had been made for her in the midst of the walls of books. I remembered the first time I encountered her in the library, the argument we had, and how she had kneed me in my balls. It hadn't hurt as much as the ache in my heart now.

“Fitz, is she...” I couldn't say it because it was impossible. If Venus were D.E.A.D., I would