His Heart

Chapter 19

His hot breath was coming in contact with my neck. I felt so vulnerable at this point. He was going to kill me right here, right now. Why didn't he though?

"I command you to kill her!"

"Mother!" Elizabeth cried out.

Why wasn't his teeth sinking into my neck? Was he fighting the urge to kill me? A low growl rumbled from his throat and his head turned towards Suliman. She backed up towards Elizabeth and Viktor.

"I command you to kill her!" she yelled more forcefully.

Howl jumped onto Suliman's body, his teeth a few inches from her neck.

"You won't hurt me or my family, ever again!"

He stabbed her with his talons and sunk his teeth into her neck. I scrambled to get up. I grabbed Viktor's hand and Elizabeth ran towards Marcus and Jeff. They were unconscious, but they were still alive.

"Mom, what happened to dad?" Elizabeth asked.

"Suliman is what happened," I said.

Howl sat there, just staring at Suliman's dead body. The blood was dripping from his mouth and talons. His breathing was heavy and ragged. He looked exhausted and stressed. I put Viktor in Elizabeth's lap and walked over to him. Despite what happened to him, my husband was still in there somewhere. I knelt down to his level and brushed away a few feathers. His face emerged and his eyes were their normal color: navy blue. They looked distressed and fearful.

"Howl? If you can hear me, give me a sign."

His wing was placed onto my back, soon it turned into a hand and started rubbing up and down my spine.

"I'm here, Y/N."

Tears started running down my face and I bury my head into his chest. It was happy to have him back. It was also a big relief that we didn't have to worry about Suliman anymore. Elizabeth picked up Viktor, Howl grabbed Marcus, and I lifted Jeff onto my shoulders. We walked out when the police were there. Great.

"Hands where we can see them!"

I propped Jeff onto one of the cinder block and held my hands up. Howl did the same. Elizabeth didn't have to do that with Viktor. The police had taken her in one of the police cruisers. A policeman came up towards me. I was forced to put my hands behind my back and was then cuffed. Howl was handcuffed and we were put in separate cars. We were headed to the police station. I saw the police taking Jeff and Marcus into an ambulance.

~3 hours later~

They were going to let me go, since I had no part in the death of Suliman. Elizabeth and Viktor were waiting for me in the lobby.

"Where's dad?" She asked me.

"That's the thing, I don't know yet."

We sat there in the lobby, waiting to hear what happened to Howl. It wasn't until 8pm when we got word of him. He actually walked past us, but Viktor was asleep, Elizabeth was in the bathroom, and I was too busy reading a book to notice he walked past us, in cuffs! The police are giving him a 5 year sentence. No bailing him out this time. The cost to bail him out was worth more than what I saved up. So Howl won't be out until he's 50! I'll be 45, Elizabeth will be 24, and Viktor will be 10. This was going to be a long five years.

Marcus and Jeff only suffered minor head injuries. We came to visit them in the hospital. First, we had to go pick up Sidney. And I was shown that the apartment and bookstore was a total pile of shit. I had the boxes left. I was going to use at least 75% of the earnings I had saved up. Seeing my brother and Marcus better and doing well, raised my spirits a bit. I sadly told them what was going to happen to Howl. They were sorry that we had to wait 5 years until his release. Sidney was happy to see his fathers again. He was probably worried where they had gone. Apparently, my father came over to see the apartment in such a disaster, he went to go look for Sidney. He found him underneath the desk in the bookstore, asleep. It was a good thing my father found him.

"At least Suliman can't hurt us," I said.

"Yeah," Marcus said.

"I hope you guys have a safe recovery," Elizabeth said.

After spending some time with Marcus and Jeff, we headed back to the castle to see Calcifer sleeping, once again. As soon as the door slammed shut–I made Viktor slam it–Calcifer looked around and yelled at me for like ten minutes.

"Sorry about the outburst, it just annoys me you do that, Y/N!"

"Sorry, Cal."

"It's fine. Where's Howl?"

"Five year sentence."

"Five years?! He won't be out until he's 50! I'm so sorry guys."

"It's alright, Cal," said Elizabeth.

"What are you going to do until he's out?"

"Visit him as much as we can," said Viktor.

"Does Markl know?"

"We should probably tell him," I said.

"Tell me what?"

Markl just walked through the door at that very moment. He has a way with timing.

"Markl, Howl is in jail," I said.

"What for?"

"Killing that bitch, Suliman."

"Oh. What happened this time?"

I sat Markl down and explained everything that happened. He was a little surprised, but mostly he was hurt that his teacher was back in jail.

"And I can't bail him out. The cost is worth more than this castle. And plus, I need to get people to fix the apartment and bookstore. I need to order new books and everything."

"Y/N, if you need any help, know that Lucy and I will be around."

"Thank you, Markl."

He gave us a hug goodbye and headed out. I walked over towards the fireplace with Viktor. We sat there watching the dancing flames.

~Hey guys! I see we're closing in on 1k reads. And Chapter 20 is coming soon. Almost my break time. Hope you guys are liking this so far. Let me know what you guys think! BAAAAIIII!!!!!!!