“Why?”
“He hurt you.” He leaned into the barrel of the gun, his finger tightening over mine. A dare. A question.
“Like you said, Cy—I’m worthless. Just another slum whore. This world will churn out a thousand more to take my place. Why bother?”
“None of them will ever feel the way you do.”
And then, as he said it, he pulled the trigger.
My heart stopped.
The gun let out a hollowthunk—firing on an empty chamber.
“How did you know it was empty?”
He grinned, wild and unhinged, back in that manic place like when I had first seen him all those months ago. “I know you, Eon. I feel you, right in the very heart of me. You’re soft. I’m the worst thing that could happen to you.”
“But I’ll give you another chance.” He ejected the empty magazine with aclick, letting it clattered to the floor. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a new one, ramming it in so hard it jolted my wrist in his grip.
“No blanks this time. So go ahead. Finish the job you started.”
“You’re crazy! Aren’t you afraid?”
“I’m not afraid of death. He and I have always had a close relationship. What I am afraid of is that someday you’ll stop looking at me. I don’t care if you hate me. I don’t care if you’re mad. I don’t care if you hit me or hurt me. As long as you’re looking at me, then I know I’m real. I know I’m not just a ghost, a demon who haunts the night. When you look at me, I’m a man—and you’re the only one who’s ever really seen me.”
“I hate you.”
“That’s fine, doll. As long as you’re near me. As long as you look at me.”
As he said it, I saw those sparks behind his eyes and felt the hairs on my arms rise, his Flux pulsing beneath his skin, the rhythm calling to my own. Resonance. Perfect match. But I fought it, shifting my frequency until our signals clashed and destroyed each other. Because that’s what would happen—we would destroy each other. I’d seen it a million times in this city. I knew something that felt like this only ended one way. Exponential decay.
But for just one more moment, we could align.
I pressed the gun to his throat, the cold metal digging into the soft flesh beneath that strong jaw. Then my other hand was at the back of his neck, and my lips were on his, my tongue pushing past the barrier of his lips to claim him one last time. He met me with equal ferocity, just as hungry to preserve this moment. His hands traced over my sides and ribs, and I pressed into him, feeling him rise to meet me again.
Then his hand snapped to my wrist, his thumb pressing hard into the tendons until my grip on the gun loosened.
He reached with his other hand, trying to wrest it free. I knocked us over, trying to break away. His teeth sank into my neck, and I kneed him hard as he broke skin. I hissed and slammed my free hand into his face. His nose cracked, and he caught me with his elbow—hard—on the side of my head, blackness bleeding into my vision.
It was enough, and he ripped the gun from my hand.
His hair twisted in my grip as I fought back, then the cold steel of the barrel pressed against my temple.
Our eyes locked. For one more moment, the resonance held.
I heard theclickof the safety I’d left on. Something flickered behind his eyes. The resonance broke, but he hesitated just a moment too long.
I slammed my palm into his neck, the neurodampener I’d grabbed off his desk lodging into his skin.
That spark went out. He collapsed onto me, completely unconscious.
CHAPTER 54
CY
“So, are we gonna talk about what happened last night?” Maddox asked.
“No.” My nose was bandaged where the POM docs had reset it this morning.
