My chest aches seeing her like this. I’ve officially broken her. I got the girl, but at what cost? Her sanity? No. I don’t accept that. She’s stronger than that.
My love for her hasn’t changed. If anything, I love her even more now. It’ll just take some time to get her back. “It’s over, Eve. It’s over, and you did so good.”
She whimpers, pulling her arms tighter around herself.
“I’m so proud of you.” It’s probably the first time she’s ever heard those words in a nonsexual way.
Shaking her head, she cries softly, holding on to herself.
I look over her disheveled hair and tear-streaked face. She didn’t look this defeated after Evan attacked her in her home. I’ve done this to her. She trusted me and I hurt her. With Evan, she knew what she was getting, knew she couldn’t trust him. I’m supposed to be her protector, her Lord, and I had to treat her like every other bastard in her life. I have to prove to her that I’m not who she now sees me as. “Would you like a water?”
Eve nods and I back out of the room and down the hallway to grab one out of the fridge.
Walking back into the room, my jaw clenches when she trembles at the sight of me. I only have myself to blame. I sit down on the floor, keeping a safe distance away. I don’t want to scare her more than she already is. “I’ll roll it to you. Okay?”
She nods once more.
Rolling the bottle across the floor, it stops when it hits the wall she’s got herself plastered to. Her watery eyes stare down at it for a second. “It’s okay, Eve,” I assure her.
“Did…did you drug it?” she asks and her teeth chatter.
I frown at her question. “No. It’s brand new. The seal hasn’t even been broken.”
With shaking hands, she unscrews the lid and spills the water as she turns it up and drinks.
I sigh in relief. Baby steps. She gasps in a breath, pulling it away.
“Talk to me, Eve.” I need to keep her mind here with me.
“Where are we?” she whispers, scanning the disheveled bed and door behind me. She’s not familiar with this room.
“Blackout. We’re in Tyson’s apartment.”
She frowns, not remembering leaving Dollhouse. She was unconscious when I carried her out of there.
“How…how long have we been here?”
“Two days. You needed time to recover.”
She flinches at my words, and I fucking hate how she won’t let me near her. I just want to pull her into my arms and hold her. Tell her how much I love her. She did it. She beat them. Just like I knew she would. I’m so fucking proud of her.
“Talk to me, Eve. How do you feel?” Silence isn’t good for her. She’ll fall back into her own mind, and that is a hell I need to keep her out of. I’ve never hated the Lords more than I do now. They knew she was doing better, had moved on, and they wanted to send her back. Trap her inside her own mind. It’s the one thing we can’t escape. I know. I’ve been there.
“I want you to leave,” she whispers, unable to make eye contact.
Never.“I can’t do that.”
She sniffs and closes her eyes tightly. Still whispering, she says, “I thought you loved me.”
My chest tightens, and I scoot closer to her. “I do, angel. I love you so much.” I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it to her.
She shakes her head, refusing to believe me. “You don’t hurt someone you love.”
Sometimes you have to hurt the one you lovecomes to mind. “I’ll never hurt you again,” I promise her.
“But you did…” Tears fall from her pretty eyes. “That’s not love.”
“It’s not what you think.”
