Collapsed.
The world I’d known, the rules I’d lived by, all of it was suddenly… gone.
Jace pulled me back against him, one hand firm between my shoulders, the other cradling my head. “You’re not alone,” he murmured into my hair. “I swear to you. I will not abandon you.”
I didn’t know if I believed him.
I tried to pull away from him, but he didn’t let me. His grip tightened to the point of hurting.
“Please let me go,” I whispered brokenly.
Jace, his grip still firm, met my eyes and said, “Never.”
Never.
Panic crawled up my spine.
“I didn’t mean—” he started, then stopped himself. I felt the shift in him, the way he reined whatever it was back in. His hold loosened a fraction, enough that I could breathe without pain, but his hands never left me. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised. “I just… can’t lose you.”
“You already hurt me,” I whispered.
“I know,” he said, his voice rough. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“How could you not have meant to?” My voice shook despite my effort to keep it steady. “You came into our home wantingto destroy it, Jace. I don’t understand how you can say you didn’t mean to.”
“Baby—”
“Please stop,” I whispered, feeling sick. “Don’t—don’t call me that. Not now. Please.”
His eyes were red and frantic. “Don’t push me away, Elior. I know you need me. You just called me Daddy a few minutes ago.”
“Because I’m confused and terrified and I—I feel like this all just has to be a bad dream. It has to be.”
“Please, Elior. I know it looks bad, but I never once lied to you about my feelings for you.”
“How am I supposed to believe that when you lied about everything else?” I pleaded.
Jace’s jaw clenched as he growled, “You’re acting like I had a choice.” His hand slid from my arm to my wrist, fingers digging into my skin a little too tightly. “You don’t understand how deep this went. If I’d done anything differently, you could be dead right now.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said, my voice barely audible.
“I was protecting you,” he went on. “Every lie, every step—I did it so you’d still be breathing. So you wouldn’t end up buried in some unmarked grave like the others he broke.”
“Stop,” I said, shaking my head. My chest felt tight, like the air had thinned. “Please stop talking about him like that. Father would never—”
“He’d never? Your m—”
“Agbayani.Not now,” Patel boomed, straightening with a look of anger on his face.
Jace turned to glare at him. “I’ve got it. Fuck. My point is,”he turned back to me, “he brainwashed and abused you. And if I hadn’t stepped in, it would’ve only gotten worse.”
“P-please go away,” I cried, getting choked up. “I just need to think. I’m sorry. It’s all just too much. Please.”
“Don’t do this, cherub.”
My pulse thudded painfully in my ears.
I felt at a loss for words as Jace’s grip tightened once more, making my fingers tingle.
