Page 31 of Henrikk’s Secret

He stared, and he stared.

The air was still.

He was still.

His life had stopped.

Blood rushed to his ears. Something called to him from beyond the trapdoor, an eerie echo playing in his mind. Or was it his own heart, calling for Asher?

His jaw tensed, then trembled. He swallowed, and his eyes grew as watery as his clothes.

He’d been brave. He’d been impassive. And he’d given Asher what he wanted, even if what he wanted was him.

A life in Paradise with another Henrikk who was just like him. A life free of Dargotika…

Because I will remain here to serve her will. Even if losing Asher will kill me.

It was the right thing to do. Knowing that didn’t make the pain hurt him any less. He was not a copy; he was a living, breathing person with a beating heart.

But he felt like a copy. Because if the other Henrikk were living a life with Asher, then he would be living no life at all.

And, after all, was he not sacrificing a chance at happiness to continue on the path he’d set out on?

We couldn’t both go to the island.

Someone had to stay behind.

His heart began to tear, slowly, mercilessly. A wail of agony began somewhere in the back of his throat and stayed there. There was no one to hear him scream, no one who mattered anyway.

But the pain seared him, blinding white as it burnt him, slicing him with lacerations that would never heal, burning up his lungs until there was no air.

A deep loneliness descended, heavier and heavier until it crushed him where he stood.

Asher, whispered a desperate part of him as if it sensed the infinite distance between them.

No. This was a mistake.

This could not be right. To suffer alone, forever.

There had to be more.

This was not enough.

A life without Asher was not enough.

Unable to bear it a moment longer, he seized the ring of the trapdoor and wrenched it up, staring down into the depths of the…

Nothing. Just a small, cramped space—full of musty books and a crate laced with cobwebs.

Disappointment slammed into him, and he fell to his knees, staring down dejectedly into the space.

Time passed, but he did not move. He stared down, and in his mind, he saw a shimmering, aquamarine ocean bearing a small, beautiful piece of paradise. Oh, how he longed to join them.

Needed it. Wanted it.

Could not live without it.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!