“NO!” I scream at the guards. “No. Don’t hurt him.Please.” Riven’s eyes find mine as he inhales a sharp breath. I see the relief flicker behind them, and it cools a fraction of the fury that sought to burn me alive moments ago. I hear Sabel’s wicked laughter behind me once more.
“Love. What a pathetic little human emotion, isn’t it?” Sabel croons. I feel my cheeks heat, a sudden reminder of the personal feelings that I was forced to share not once, but twice. I fight the urge to avert Riven’s burning gaze and instead match his intensity. I’m not backing down from my truth, no matter how consequential it may be. I fight the overwhelming revelation of my feelings as the three words dig their claws into me and hold on for dear life. A small voice in my mind isbeggingto know if he feels it, too.
“Aw, how adorable. Your feelings remain the same for him, even now,” Sabel starts. “Even as he kneels before you as aliar.” Riven’s eyes search mine, as if he’s pleading with me not to believe a word she’s saying. Tears fill my eyes, leaving a trail of them down my cheeks. His eyes track the descent, turning his questioning glare into one of anguish and desperation. Sabel walks around to my side, her hand finding my left shoulder and causing me to flinch. I look up at her.
“And to answer your question, Riven, I want what I’ve always wanted. I want the world to bend to my will,” Sabel says. “That all starts with yourgirlfriendhere, the perfect little outlier for me to experiment on.” She brushes strands of hair over my shoulder. I yank at the wrist restraints to escape her touch.
“Sloane made it so easy for me to drag her in here. Imagine what else I could do to her with the right …persuasion.” I tense, knowing she means to use the frequency on me.
TheEdenFrequency. No, no, no. I cannot let her mind control me into permanent sublimation. I avert Sabel’s gaze, finding Riven’s instead.
“Don’t fucking touch her, Sabel,” Riven roars. Despite the situation we find ourselves in, the possessiveness piques my curiosity in more ways than one. “I’ll fucking rip your throat out, you psychotic bitch!” he spits out.
I’ve never seen the rage that’s currently burning in his eyes. It’s both unnerving and intriguing. He’s …unhinged. His fists are tightened and pressed firmly against his side. His chest rises and falls rapidly. He’s losing control because ofme.
Sabel chuckles, and the guards on either side of Riven inch closer, daring him to make a move against their leader. Riven retreats only slightly, sensing that he doesn’t have the upper hand.
“Down,dog,” Sabel says disdainfully. Riven pants, playing the part, before kneeling back on his heels and surrendering his fury. It looks like it takes an insurmountable effort for him not to follow through on his promise to rip her to shreds.
Sabel leaves my side, walking over to the two-way mirror in front of us. She taps on it twice and then strides back over to stand beside me. I glance up to see that she’s sneering down at me. I can’t help the panic that works its way through my body. I look to Riven. His worried eyes flick between Sabel and me.
I’m contemplating my next move, my next words, as I hear music filter in through the headphones. I panic, knowing that this may be the last time I have any sort of free will. I quickly try to block it out and run from it, only to stumble and fall right into the trap. The feeling consumes me faster this time, and before I know it …I’m falling. The last thing that I see is Riven’s face, furious andbroken. His mouth moves, and it looks like he’s screaming, but I can’t hear the words over the sound of the frequency. My eyes shudder, threatening to close. I force them open one last time, long enough to barely read the words on his lips.
I love you, Sloane.
41
Riven
Seeing Sloane like this does something to me, rewiring the circuits of my brain. I’ve hurt plenty of people throughout my life. I’ve lied, stolen, fuckingkilledpeople. Nothing compares to seeing Sloane crumble right in front of my eyes. Seeing her fall apart is unraveling something within me that I didn’t even know was there. I recall the way Sloane looked at me as if she didn’t even recognize the person in front of her anymore, like I was nothing more than a patheticstranger. The thought of it fucking stings.Idid this to her, and it fucking kills me to know it. My perfect, unbreakable little nightmare, broken because ofme.
I want to hold her in my arms until she knows that she’s fuckingeverythingto me, until she knows thatI love her too. I want to infiltrate every fiber of her being until she knows that I’min lovewith her. If she comes back to me and chooses me, I’llbear the weight of everything that comes after. I will fall from the cliff’s edge if only she’s in my arms when I do.
Her eyes are fluttering closed, and I scream, needing her to hold on for a second longer. She’s trying so hard, my beautiful nightmare, but it’s all too much. I say the words, unsure if she’ll even hear them.
“I love you, Sloane.” Her eyes fall closed seconds later, her head hanging limply. My eyes find her chest, and relief hits when I see that she’s breathing. I want to go to her, to hold her, and tell her that everything will be okay. I want to tell her that I’m not the man that Sabel is trying to portray me as.
Except that I am.
Iamhim. Iamthe man who’s been lying to Sloane about my true identity this whole time. Iamthat man who’s a cold-blooded murderer. Will Sloane find it within herself to forgive me when she knows the entire truth? Will she even get the chance to? I hear Sabel’s voice over the thoughts running through my mind.
“Oh, relax. She’sfine. I induced a state of relaxation and unawareness so we could speak freely without her being sotheatrical.” Sabel waves her hand in the air like Sloane is a burden she can’t be bothered with. I imagine skinning the flesh from Sabel’s bones and then forcing it down her throat until she asphyxiates. The image brings a smile to my face.
“Okay, Riven. This is how it’s going to go. You will say “somnius” on my command. Understand?” She arches a brow, eyeing me with that superiority complex that says she dares me to object. Somnius? I quickly search my brain for what she’s asking. And I don’t like what I come up with.
The Eden Frequency.
She wants me to activate the Eden Frequency onSloane. Somnius must be the command key. I contemplate my options, noting that I don’t have the upper hand right now. Two gunsare pointed in my direction, andmygirl is strapped to a chair, having her brain rearranged. I search my mind for a way to stall until I can formulate an escape plan.
“And if I don’t?” I ask, genuinely wanting to know the lengths that Sabel will go, partially itching to taunt the bitch. I hear a door open behind me, followed by heavy steps that I recognize in an instant. His familiar voice echoes from behind me, confirming his identity.
“If you don’t, the girl will be killed,” my father says, walking past me and over to Sabel and Sloane. He stands on Sloane’s opposite side, pulling a knife from his pocket and holding it up to her carotid. Well, that makes things a lot fucking harder. I bring my gaze to Sloane, expecting to see panic. Instead, all I see is loose strands of red hair falling over her face.
I sigh, rolling my neck. I look up and lock eyes with my father’s nearly black ones. It’s the only trait that I half acquired from him. A trait that Raithe unfortunately fully acquired. My opposing gray eye is from my mother. Every time I look in the mirror and see the dark color, I seehim. Now, looking into my father’s eyes, I see nothing more than acoward.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Dorian?!” I ask, seething.
“Ah, first-name basis. Is that how you’re going to treat your old man after all this time?” He pauses and then continues, the question apparently rhetorical. “Well, if you must know, I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Something you wouldn’t know anything about. What, with you running amok around the streets of Hollowcrest, murdering the people right off of it. Tell me, son. How does it feel knowing that you are as much of a petty criminal as the men you drive your knives into? Do they teach you about that in psychology school?Psychology… what a waste of time. You always were such a disgrace to the Reilly name.”
