Relief fills my lungs at the fact that he’shere.I’ll finally have a chance to actually talk to him, without anyone else around.
As I close the door and slowly make my way toward him, he stirs, groaning softly.
He turns his head, and my heart clenches. Because his face is pale, his eyes sunken and shadowed, his blond hair flat and dull. He looks like he hasn’t eaten or slept in days.
Confusion flickers across his features before recognition dawns.
“Zoey?” He blinks at me slowly. “What are you doing here?”
I walk over to the bed and perch on the side of it, taking a sharp breath inward at how he looks even worse up close than from far away. “What happened to you?” I ask. “You look?—”
“I’m fine,” he cuts me off, smiling weakly. “Just tired.”
“Tired?” I shake my head. “You’re barely hanging on. This place—it’s killing you.”
“She’s not killing me.” He chuckles softly, the sound more like a rasp.
“She?” My stomach twists. “You mean the queen?”
“She’s…” He trails off, his eyes glazing over. “She’s everything. You wouldn’t understand.”
Given what I already know, it’s not difficult to piece together what’s happening here.
“She’s drinking from you too often, and too much,” I say it as a fact, daring him to contradict me. “She’s going to kill you.”
“No,” he insists, the one word stronger than any he’s said so far. “She loves me. I just need rest. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re not fine.” I force myself to take a steadying breath, not wanting to anger him to the point where he shuts down. I’ve seen him shut down on Sapphire far too many times to know it’s in the realm of extreme possibility. “You need to eat something. Drink something. Anything to keep your strength up.”
He shakes his head, his smile slipping. “You don’t understand. She needs me.”
I bite back a curse, frustration bubbling in my chest.
“And what about whatyouneed?” I ask. “Have you seen yourself today? Because if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re not going to survive this.”
“I’ll be fine,” he says, closing his eyes again. “I just need to rest.”
A lump of tears forms in my throat, but I swallow them down.
“I’ll find a way to help you,” I say, even though I have no idea how. “I promise.”
His breathing evens out as he drifts off, and I sit there for a moment, watching him.
At home, I never liked him. In high school, he was full of himself. Then he turned bitter when he didn’t get a football scholarship and therefore couldn’t go to college. He treatedSapphire like she was something he wanted to own. Hot and cold all the time, as toxic as all else.
But now, he’s my lifeline to home. He’s the reminder that the life I had before coming here is more than a distant dream. He’s the only thing familiar in this place that’s more dangerously fantastical than I could have ever imagined.
I have to help him.
Eventually, I rise and leave the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
Henry’s still lounging in the suite’s common area, a smug expression on his face. I’m pretty sure it permanently lives there.
“Didn’t like what you saw?” he mocks.
I glare at him. “Shut up, Henry.”
“Careful, Zoey.” He smirks and leans back in his chair. “You wouldn’t want to make an enemy out of me.”
Seriously? That’s the best he can do?
“If you have to tell people to be afraid of you, then you’re doing it wrong.” I smirk right back at him and turn on my heel, storming out of the suite before he can reply.
Henry and whatever game he’s playing are the least of my problems. Because I have to figure out a way to save Matt.
Before it’s too late.
