Page 158 of Savior
I don’t know how to answer that…
“Why are you practically wincing, Vanna?” Dean asks, and I can already feel the threat in his tone. “What did Rusty do?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” I answer quickly this time. Maybe Rusty did have a point. Dean isn’t one to mess with… And he can be dangerous. Perhaps I’ve lost sight of that, because he’s so loving with me. “Forget it, really. I was just curious. He’s a very helpful guy. Follows your orders to the letter.”
“You sure? You said you wanted to talk about something tonight.”
“I’m sure.”
Dean sets his knife and fork down, grabbing his napkin to wipe his mouth before he leans back in his chair. “Well, in that case, there’s something I’d like to talk about. Regarding a certain letter, as well. I hope you’ll listen and take it all to heart.”
“What’s wrong?”
He watches me as he reaches inside his leather cut and pulls out an envelope. Placing it down on the table, he slides it closer to me.
“I want you to read this.”
“What is it?” I ask, moving my plate aside to pick up the envelope.
“Something you need to know. And accept.”
I remove the folded papers inside. One, I immediately recognize. The purple jar of hearts stationary I haven’t seen since that night Dean pulled me out of the Demons’ Den and demanded I give back to him. Only now, it’s dirty with some kind of residual, dark powder. The other, is a printed form… a fingerprint comparison chart.
“He wrote it, Vanna.” Dean says. I lift my eyes to find him staring at me intently. There’s a worry in his expression. As if he’s willing me to believe him. “Legion wrote that. The Party’s here. Those are his prints. They match. Jason had them lifted and compared.”
“Compared to what?”
“I broke into the Demons’ Den...”
Of course he did…
“Took something of his that only his prints would be on. It’s an exact match. See for yourself. I’m not lying to you. I’ve been telling you since that morning you discovered the letter. It’s all been fuckin’ Legion. There’s no room for doubt. You don’t have to take my word for it anymore…” I can hear the pain behind his words on that sentence. “This is proof.”
My mouth suddenly feels dry as I lower my eyes from his to look back down at the letter… I wonder how mad he’s going to be when I tell him…
“Dean…” I sigh, guilt washing over and making me feel like I could lose the dinner I just finished.
“I did this for you, baby. For us. You can’t defend him anymore.”
“I’m not… I believe you… I’ve believed you, Dean.”
“Vanna, how else would his prints be on that fucking letter if he didn’t write it?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, biting my lip for a moment as I gather my nerves to tell him the truth.
“Because… I let him touch it…” I barely hear my own voice. “I wasn’t thinking…”
“What?”
I let out a long breath before I force myself to open my eyes and meet his now stern gaze, once again. “That night I went to the Demons’ Den to confront him, I showed him the letter and demanded to know why he tried to hurt us… He touched the letter. In fact, he made it a point to make sure his prints were clearly on it.”
Dean doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t make a sound. He simply continues to stare back at me. I can’t even tell what he’s thinking, so I ramble on nervously.
“I was mad at myself for letting it happen. If it’s any consolation Dean, after everything else that’s happened, him doing that, I know you’re right. I’ve known you’re right… I’m sorry I let my anger about you and Lucinda cloud my judgement that night.”
He shakes his head, lowering his gaze to the purple jar of hearts stationary, glaring at it for a moment, before he snatches it up. “This was all I fuckin’ had… And I never even fuckin’ had it.”
“I’m sorry… For whatever it’s worth. Legion has it out for you. He insisted he never meant me any harm, though.”
