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The thought is almost laughable.
Em winces. “No. Because that would be a lie. I suppose you could say I’ve grown…complacent with the way the world is run. Maybe I was horrified when the monsters initially rose to power, but what I once perceived as sickening quickly became the world’s new normal. I could either fall in line or be left behind.”
“You did far more than fall in line. And left behind? Get fucking real. You’re one of the kings of the realm. You embraced everything that the Ebony Kingdom stands for. You’ve battered and used humans and loved it.”
He flicks his gaze away from me once more, as if it pains him to stare at me for too long. “Yes, but then I met you.”
“Me?” A knot of apprehension lurches into my throat.
“You,” Em agrees. “And even Chase.”
He resumes scratching at the inside of his wrist. A nervous habit, I imagine. I half want to slap his hand away and get him to stop, bile scorching my throat at the sight of blood on his pale skin. Yet the other part of me wants him to suffer. To hurt.
“And I began to realize how wrong I’ve been this entire time.”
My heart seems to be squeezed by fiery hands. It takes considerable effort to take in a full breath, and even then, it feels as if I’m inhaling burning razor blades.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” I confess after a long moment of silence, where all I could do was stare at his painfully handsome face, drawn in misery.
“I don’t expect you to say anything.” Em shifts slightly, and pain distorts his features at the movement.
A piece of my heart hurts for him; the rest of me remembers the fear I felt when he ran at me with a dagger, intent on ending my life once and for all, and the pity vanishes in a puff of smoke.
“Heaven only knows I don’t deserve a response from you.”
“Stop saying shit like that!” I snap.
His brows bunch. “Like what?”
“That!” I wave my hand towards him with a scowl. “Confusing, cryptic shit.”
Em’s body seems to sag as if the weight of the universe is resting on his shoulders. He suddenly looks exhausted, and dark,circular shadows underscore both of his eyes. How did I not notice them before?
“I know I’m not making any sense to you?—”
“Damn right.”
“—but there are some truths that you’re just not ready to hear, mistress.” He stares directly at me then, and for the first time that I can remember, his eyes are unguarded. Vulnerable, even. A plethora of emotions emanate from his gaze, but the most prominent one is…
I must be mistaken.
No, I’m definitely imagining things.
There’s no way in hell that the Empty Man—or even Chase, for that matter—would stare at me withlove.
The sheer absurdity of it makes me want to scoff.
“You’re right,” I settle on at last, an uncomfortable, twisting sensation settling in my gut. “I’m not ready to hear it.” I focus on the tunnel that seems to go on and on forever, no end in sight, nothing but an ocean of black, sticky tar that threatens to cling to my skin. “Let's go.”
And when I step onto the track, I don’t look back.
9
CHASE
Bite your fucking tongue,I chastise Empty as Aliana walks away from us.
Okay,he responds, and then the motherfucker literally clamps my teeth down on my tongue.
