Chapter twenty-four
EMMA EASTON
I’m walking down a hallway that never ends. The walls are dark, swallowing light rather than reflecting it. There are no doors. No windows. Just a narrow stretch that keeps going, no matter how far I walk. My footsteps make no sound, but my heart is loud.
“Jude?” I call, my voice disappearing almost immediately into the void. Panic surges inside me, and I break into a run. My breath burns, but the end of the hall finally comes into view, and I freeze.
Jude. He's…
He's on his knees, chains digging into his wrists, bolted high into the wall behind him. His head hangs forward, hair fallinginto his face. His shoulders are slumped, like he’s been holding himself upright for too long and finally just gave up.
“No—” I whisper, already dropping to the floor in front of him.
I scramble the last few feet, knees hitting the ground hard. My hands fly to his face, cradling his jaw, my thumbs brushing his cheeks.
“Jude. Jude,look at me.”
He lifts his head.
I recoil so fast I fall back onto my ass.
His eyes aren’t right. They’re open, but there’s nothing in them. No light. No warmth. Just a dead, nearly black stare that doesn’t recognize me at all. It’s like looking into a body that’s already been abandoned by its soul.
“Oh my god,” I choke.
He’s covered in blood and bruises. Dried streaks darken his skin, splatter his chest, his neck. His lip is split. He looks exhausted.
I desperately reach for him again. “Jude, can you hear me? Please.Pleasetell me where you are.”
Nothing. It’s like I’m talking to a wall.
“I’m here,” I sob, crawling closer again. “I’mrighthere. I can help you. Just tell me how.”
I grab his face again, gentler this time, afraid I’ll hurt him if I’m not careful. “Where are you?” I whisper. “How do I get to you?”
For a moment, nothing happens. Then his eyes finally focus and lock onto mine. My heart leaps, hope flaring painfully in my chest. But there’s no warmth in their depths. “Forget about me, Em.”
The words gut me right there. “No,” I cry, shaking my head violently. “No,no—don’t say that. I won’t. Ican’t—”
Suddenly, his body jerks. Violently. He convulses in pain, ripping out of my grasp as his back arches, chains rattling loudlyagainst the wall. His head snaps back, a sound tearing from his throat that doesn’t even sound human.
“Jude!” I scream, lunging for him. “Stop! Please, stop!”
But his body keeps seizing. Over and over. Like something invisible is ripping him apart from the inside. I’m screaming. I’m begging. I’m sobbing so hard I can’t breathe.
And then—
It stops, his body going slack. His head falls forward, and the chains stop moving.
“Jude?” My voice breaks completely.
He doesn’t move...or breathe anymore. His eyes stare ahead now, unfocused and lifeless. He’s...he’s…
The silence around us is suffocating, and I scream again, my heart shattering under the force of the pain.
I jolt awake with a strangled cry, my body lurching upright, hands clutching at my chest like I can somehow pull the air back into my lungs.
“Emma—Emma, hey—”
