“Time’s up, Midnight.”
I shift, my entire body uncomfortable and aching to explain.Confusion draws Lucy’s eyes tight.It sweeps like a wave down her face, washing all the warmth away, eroding it like the ocean does the shore.Almost as if it were never really there at all.
Oh gods, I can’t do this.Not again.As Lucy drags her gaze from Ignatius to me, my heart stutters.
“What have you done, Midnight?”she says, her words breathy and rapid.
I can’t bring myself to look at her.Anything I say isn’t going to be a good enough explanation in the heat of the moment.It’s why I wanted to explain before.Ineedmore time to explain.
“You’re not reaping her,” Lucy says, pinning her shoulders back and taking a bold step forward.
Oh gods, she’s defending me.My shoulders sag.Bile claws up my throat, my stomach twisting into a vicious knot.
I want to be sick.A carnal urge to scour my skin from my body itches through my fingers.
“Reap Midnight?”Ignatius scoffs.
Lucy hesitates, glancing between the two of us.Her head tilts, the furrow in her brow deepening.
I can’t look.I can’t breathe.
“What’s… What’s he talking about?If he’s not here because your time is up, what’s he talking about…”
She stumbles her way through her question.Confusion etched into the rhythm of her sentence.
Her head shakes, as if she’s trying to clear her thoughts.Ignatius slinks across the room towards her.
She scrambles away, putting the bed between her and ignatius.
“Midnight…” she breathes, her chest rising and falling fast.“What is going on?”
But what can I say?I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Not the explanation that I made the deal to save myself because I was furious with her, that she broke my heart and I had nothing left, nor the fact Ignatius gave me no choice.
The truth is right there, nestled against the back of my teeth.
I can feel it.
The deal as well as the panic and my angry agreement.
And the slow realisation that I’d made a mistake but convinced myself I had time to fix this.
Something shifts.
A door slams shut somewhere deep in my chest.
I can’t tell her.
At least, not with him standing there.
If I tell her the truth, that I made the deal when I was at my most vulnerable and furious with her and hated myself after, then Ignatius will realise I never meant it.He’ll know I was always going to betray him.And if he knows that, I have nothing.No leverage, no time, no plan.
Another slam.
Another shift.
Another door closes and this one hurts.My hand moves to rub my sternum.It doesn’t dissipate the pain.
