Ranveer’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t back down. “Don’t make us force you.”
“What the fuck, Ranveer?” I ask as I take a step back, my gaze whipping to Xeni, but he’s staring at the ground. “Is this a joke? What the fuck is going on?”
They don’t answer. They surge forward like a tide of black armor, two of them clamping onto my arms with grips that feel like steel cuffs. Pain flares hot, bruises blooming under their fingers, but it’s nothing compared to the ice flooding my veins.
I twist, panic exploding in my chest like shattered glass.
“Let go of me!” I shout, trying to rip free of their grip, but they steer me toward the door. “I didn’t do anything! Xen—what is… what…help me!”
But he only stands there, arms limp at his sides.
No surprise.
No outrage.
Just… watching.
The same way he’d watch a storm through the window. Distant and detached, like it’s happening to someone else.
The guards haul me back, my heels dragging across the floor. I thrash and fight, and my elbow jabs into one’s gut as my foot stomps down onto another’s instep. Their grip loosens for a split second, and I wrench free.
My feet charge back towards the safety of Xeni’s barracks, lunging for the door.
“Xeni! Why are you just standing there? Tell them they’ve made a mistake. Get Aeliphis or the commander… dosomething!”
A guard tackles me from behind, slamming me face-first into the wall. Pain explodes in my nose as hot blood trickles down my lip. Stars burst in my vision as another pins my arms behind my back, and zipties bite into my wrists.
“Stop!” I scream, my voice cracking as the guards haul me backward. “Please… Xen,help me!”
The plea rips out of me, tearing my throat, but he doesn’t move. He stands frozen in the doorway, face too calm, like a statue carved from stone.
But I see it now.
The fractures beneath the mask.
His hands tremble at his sides, fists clenched so hard the knuckles bleach white and veins standing out like cords. A tiny flinch ripples through him every time a guard tugs me too hard. The smallest twitch of his shoulders, as if each blow hits him too. His eyes glisten for one fleeting second before he blinks it away, forcing the tears back down where no one can see.
But he doesn’t speak.
Doesn’t reach out.
Doesn’t even breathe.
The way my heart breaks is sharper than any hit they’ve given me. Xeni watches them drag me away, watches me fight and scream and beg.
Watches them kill me slowly with every foot of space they put between us.
I thrash harder, kicking, twisting, trying to claw my way free. My teeth gnash, biting against any flesh I can find as outraged shouts bellow in my ears. My heart grips the bars of my ribcage that hold it prisoner, talons out and desperate to get back to him.
Back to the man who said he loved me just minutes ago.
He loves me.
He’dfightfor me.
He loves me.
This can’t be real.
