He'snot worried. Even now, with everything that’s happened between us, he's not. Because henever is. I am, in his mind, already handled.
Already his.
The outcome was never in question, and my choices that led to it were never entirely mine.
I look at him for a long moment. At his dark eyes and his jaw and his absolute unshakeable certainty.
It’s not dramatic, like I’d thought it would be. It’s just a quiet rustle as the pieces of tape I’ve been holding my heart together with for the last week fall away like withered autumn leaves.
"Thunder.”
The whole world goes utterly still when the word falls from my lips.Hegoes totally still, his eyes glinting like twin black blades as the moment freezes over.
“I’m not saying that because I hate you,” I hear myself say, my voice surprisingly steady. "I'm saying it because I can't tell the difference anymore between you wanting me and youowningme.”
The frozen moment hangs there, slowly spreading, like ice forming on fallen leaves at the first winter frost.
Achilles doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me with that focused attention. But this time, I can't read what's underneath it.
"Thunder," I hear and watch myself whisper again.
I'm not going to be your experiment, Yelena. I'm not interested in being your tour guide. So yes, there’s an emergency exit. But it comes with a strict no re-admission policy. Once you leave, there’s no coming back.
The words he said that night he chased me through the woods to the plunging cliffs rattle like bones in the echoing stillness of my mind.
There’s no coming back.
Thunderdoesn’t just pause the game.
It’s a full stop.
An end toall of it.
I wait for him to speak. To grab me. To kiss me or fuck me or claim me in ways I can’t even comprehend.
But he doesn't.
“Lena?”
When I turn, my face caves when I see Wren opening the door to a black Range Rover before it even rolls to a stop.
She quickly walks over. “You guys weren’t answering your phones, and then Galina called and told me...”
Concern spreads over her face when she sees the dull, broken look on mine. Her eyes drag to Achilles, and her jaw tightens before she takes my hand in hers.
“Let's go,” she murmurs.
She starts to pull me toward the Range Rover waiting at the curb. It’s only then that Achilles’s stoic intensity cracks a little. His lips curl into a quiet snarl as he steps closer to me.
“Nah, right there is good, Achilles,” Laz growls as he steps out of the driver's side of the car. He lifts his jacket, flashing the grip of a handgun tucked into a holster. “I think it’s best you let her leave with us.”
I turn, my eyes finding Achilles’ gaze, and I shiver when that black fire ripples through them.
“You always had a choice,” he says quietly.
“No. I didn’t,” I croak. “But I do now.”
I climb into the back seat. Wren starts to sit next to me, but I shake my head. She and Laz get into the front, and the engine rumbles to life. I turn, my pulse beating shallowly as I look through the window at the man still standing under the streetlight, his eyes never leaving mine.
