His arms went around me. I pushed back, but he refused to let go. “There’s nothing either of us can do now.”
A sob sounded right behind me. I twisted in Henry’s arms to find Ellen cradling Jenny in her lap. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. “There ye go, Jenny,” she said, brushing a lock of hair from the child’s mutilated face. “He can’t hurt ye anymore.”
The scene wrenched my heart another notch. “Ellen, I’m so sorry.”
Ellen kept her gaze on Jenny. “It weren’t no fault of yer own, miss. Jenny were done being beat by that man so she went to the only place where he couldn’t get her.”
I watched in silence as Ellen continued to rock the girl. Amidst my failure, she possessed the strength to carry on.
“Help me...”
The hoarse whisper floated from the shadows. I flinched as though hit.
“Ignore it,” Henry said. “I’ll send a guard to carry him to Tyburn Square. He can spend his last breath swinging from the gallows.”
“Please, help me...”
I buried my head into Henry’s chest, a hand pressed hard over each ear. Even then, the whispered pleas circled in my head. Help me...Help me...Each circle bound me tighter, until I cried out in agony. It was too much. Lifting my head, I attempted to stand.
“Let him be,” Henry said, refusing to let go.
“You know I don’t have a choice.” My voice sounded hollow, almost inhuman.
Henry didn’t move at first. Then he gave a curt nod and helped me up.
Walking toward the man, I stumbled over a murderous thought. It is as easy to stop a heart as it is to heal one. Surely, no one in this world would be the wiser, and Brigid could not argue that the man deserved to live after what he had done to Jenny.
Lantern light spilled over his pathetic form. “What do you intend to do?” Henry asked.
To be honest, I didn’t know. Power seethed in my fingers, and I curled them into a ball, unsure if they contained life or death.
His glassy eyes continued to stare into the darkness. The reddish brown smudges around his mouth filled me with revulsion. His heinous acts cried for vengeance. Yet here I stood before him, an angel of mercy.
Or an angel of death.
What do you want from me?
“Selah,” Henry said, his gentle voice breaking into my thoughts. “I know you don’t want to do this. Rest assured, the man will hang on the morrow even if you are bound by law to heal him tonight.”
I glanced at him, thankful for the comforting words, and equally thankful that he could not read the murderous thoughts running through my mind. A drop of cold sweat rolled down my back. Henry waited, watching me. Ellen cried softly on the other side of the room. Jenny lay dead in her arms. My fingers uncurled, seemingly of their own accord as the need for retribution grew stronger...It doesn’t matter who tightens the noose and pulls the lever. Why not let it happen tonight? Why must I defile myself to help evil?
The man whimpered. His eyes focused on mine, dark pools filled with desperation and pain. “Help me...” He tried to lift a hand, but it fell limp to the floor.
I took a step forward when Brigid’s past counsel yanked me back from the edge. “It is a hard thing to measure a man’s heart. Your power is to sustain life, not to judge it. Some of my children have fallen who sought to do more than was intended.”
The warning had come months ago, at a time when I had wanted Nathan Crowley dead more than anything else in the world. Now his sins paled in comparison to the monster before me, yet the truth remained the same. No matter how much I wanted this man dead, no matter how much he deserved it, judgment would not come from me tonight.
Wishing to be done and away from this place, I squared my shoulders and stepped past his legs to place a hand on top of his matted head. Grudgingly, I let go of just enough power to warm his skin, and to see what ailment had elicited his pleas for help. The next instant turned my blood to ice. Animal fear poured into me, then without warning, tormented screams sounded in the very center of my brain.
Kill me...make it stop.
War raged inside of him. On one side stood humanity and repulsion for what he had done to the child. On the other, madness so vile, a violent shudder tore through me. Much higher screams filled my ears. The floor shook, throwing me forward, deeper into hell.
“Selah!” Henry yelled from far away.
I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t even breathe. Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, pulled me back.
“Selah! Look at me!”
The images and screams disappeared. Warmth surrounded me, thawed my blood. The room returned and air flowed into my lungs. Blinking several times, Henry’s face came into view. His arms circled me, one hand supporting my head.
“Dear Lord,” he exclaimed. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” My throat felt scratchy, and I swallowed to relieve the strain.
A child’s wails passed through the paper-thin walls and someone pounded on the floor above us with what sounded like an iron skillet.