He turned his head, saw her there, and visibly flinched. Of all the things Alizeh thought she might find in his gaze, she hadn’t expected fear.
She watched his throat work as he looked at her, taking in every inch of her languid body with care. His eyes lingered in places, darkening with something she’d come to recognize as hunger. He regarded her then with an expression that came dangerously close to weakness, as if he couldn’t decide which part of her to savor longest, and his attentions, so intense, made her feel both desperate and unsteady, like she couldn’t breathe.
“You took off your necklace,” he said with some difficulty.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I felt it was choking me.”
“Right,” he said, and dragged a hand down his face. Abruptly, he turned away.
“Cyrus,” she said after a moment. “Are you afraid of me?”
He almost laughed then, but his expression was strained. “What an absurd question.”
“Will you answer it anyway?”
“No,” he said drily. “I’m not afraid of you.”
The nosta went cold.
“You are,” she insisted. “You think I’m going to hurt you.”
“No. I don’t.”
Again, the nosta went cold.
“Cyrus—”
“Stop.” He was breathing harder than usual. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“But—”
He made a sound, something like a hiss, his eyes squeezing shut as his body seized without provocation. He clutched his torso and doubled over, clenching his teeth as he sank slowly to his knees, and as he fell forward on his hands he gasped, then bit back a cry, and Alizeh, who was watching this unfold with increasing horror, realized that Cyrus was trying not to scream.
She forgot herself.
She forgot her own tired body and shot upright in fear, her head swimming only a little as she stumbled, steadyingherself as she rushed toward him. “What’s happening?” she said, stricken. “Why are you hurting? Let me—”
She touched him and he jerked away, forcing out a single word: “Don’t.”
“But—”
Cyrus’s head shot back in a sudden, violent motion, his eyes going wide as he paled, his skin taking on an ashen, sickly color. His body trembled, his chest heaving as he breathed, faster and faster, his face all the while frozen in a single, horrified expression. She knew then that he was seeing something.
That he washearingsomething.
“No,” he shouted. “No—”
He broke then, broke with an agonized sound as he collapsed forward, his shoulders shaking as he gasped for breath.
“I can’t,” he said desperately. “I can’t, I’m sorry—Please—”
Alizeh bore witness to the torture in his eyes. She heard the low, keening sound he made as a single tear, then another, tracked slowly down his cheek.
She thought her heart might fail.
