“Not until you tell me what’s going on. It’s those men, isn’t it? The Noxins?” She spoke quickly, without emotion.
He paused for a long time, slowly flicking through the rest of the pages, lost in thought. Her brow furrowed. “I didn’t miss a line, did I?”
He looked back up at her. “I think we should put it on its feet.”
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Really?”
Ethan was already up, pushing the coffee table out of the way to clear some space. “Playing it for real will be more helpful than just making sure you have your lines down.”
Grey scooted off the couch. “Whatever you say, Mr. Director.”
The two of them squared off, a little awkwardly.
“Um. Do you want me to mark the slap? Or”—she paused—“or anything?”
He shook his head. “Go full out. All of it.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, and what looked like an involuntary shiver rippled through her. The anticipation of what was coming obviously electrified her as much as it did him. He shouldn’t be encouraging it. But it was all for the sake of her career. This was a selfless good deed, using his experience to mentor her. Nothing more.
She shook her limbs out a little bit to cover up her reaction. “Yes, sir,” she said, a devilish glint in her eye.
Ethan turned his back to her and took a few steps away. He heard her voice behind him, imperious, with a thread of vulnerability laced through it.
“Where are you going?”
He whirled around to face her, a note of warning in his tone. “Go back to the party, Catalin.”
She lifted her chin and took a tentative step toward him. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.” Her eyes widened slightly, and she lowered her voice. “It’s those men, isn’t it? The Noxins?”
He glanced back down at the script. He was tempted to play his next monologue in the melodramatic manner it deserved, but thought better of it. It would defeat the purpose of the whole exercise to openly belittle the material.
He realized with a jolt that it had been years since he’d actually acted in anything. In the meantime, he’d been demoted from billion-dollar-franchise lead to living-room-audition-scene partner. Surprisingly, the revelation was freeing, rather than humbling. He let himself settle into the character, attacking his lines with gravitas.
“And what if it is? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them. Have you? Thinking about the cost of all of this. Thesuffering. The thousands we crush under our feet every day for the sake of our own comfort. It’s tainted. All of it. I can’t live like this for another second.”
Grey stared at him for a long beat, frozen, her emotions shifting from confusion to horror. Slowly, realization dawned on her face. Her voice was hollow, resigned.
“You’re going with them.”
Ethan took another step toward her
“I am. I have to do what’s right. I don’t have any good reason to stay.”
Grey was indignant. “What about your family? Your destiny?” She cast her eyes down, hesitant, then met his gaze again, her voice trembling. “What about me?”
Ethan closed the distance between them and took her hand. “I thought you’d be relieved. You’re free now. You don’t have to marry me. You can be with Kyran.”
Grey tried to laugh but it caught in her throat. She looked up at him in disbelief.
“What makes you think I want to be with Kyran?”
“I saw—I thought—”
She put her hand on his cheek and looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. Her next words came out in a throaty whisper.
“You were wrong. It’s you. It’s always been you.”
She placed her other hand on the other side of his face and pulled his lips down to meet hers. He’d expected her to hesitate, at least for a split second, but she dove in without a second thought.
