The One He Dismissed Became The One He Died For novel Chapter 143

Miles locked down the feral, possessive urges storming his brain and switched on the flashlight. Her body was a canvas of bruises and cuts, especially her legs, which were severely scraped.

"What were you doing running all the way to Blue Ridge County? Look what happened to you."

Miles knelt in front of her, gently cleaning her wounds with antiseptic.

His question jogged Claire's memory. She reached for her backpack, digging past the supplies until she pulled out a small, red velvet pouch.

"I almost forgot. Here, this is for you. A birthday present. Oh, wait, you don't celebrate birthdays."

Her eyes crinkled into a breathtaking smile. "Then it's just a regular gift. I wanted you to have it, to keep you safe and give you peace."

She untied the velvet strings, revealing a meticulously polished string of beads that carried the faint, soothing scent of temple incense.

Resting perfectly in her palm, the gift drew his attention to the fresh, bloody abrasions crisscrossing her hands.

"You went to Blue Ridge Monastery?"

Claire nodded. "I heard the Blessed Guardian Rosary they pray over there is incredibly effective."

Suddenly, the innkeeper's warning downstairs echoed in Miles's mind, clicking perfectly into place.

To obtain a Blessed Guardian Rosary from Blue Ridge Monastery, a pilgrim had to prostrate themselves every hundred paces.

From the base of the mountain to the summit, there were thirty-six hundred grueling stone steps. It was a pilgrimage he forced himself to endure every year on his birthday; he knew exactly how brutal and agonizing the climb was.

And she had dropped to her knees to pray every single hundred yards.

He had assumed her injuries were entirely from the car wreck. Looking at her now, he realized the worst of them came from earning this rosary.

A fierce internal battle raged in his eyes, his voice turning impossibly raw.

"Claire, it was just a dinner at the family manor for my birthday."

"I could have gone back. You didn't have to go this far for me."

If he had known she would do something this reckless, he would have just agreed to attend the dinner from the start.

"What are you mumbling about?"

Ignoring his hesitation, Claire grabbed his wrist and slipped the wooden beads over his hand. "Perfect. It looks great on you!"

She tilted her head, genuinely confused.

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