Page 16

Steven blinks at the camera. Blood stains the side of his face, but other than that he looks unharmed. His eyes widen as a shadow moves across his face; someone else is in the room. They do not speak but I know exactly who it is.

The camera zooms in. Steven stares straight down the lens.

“Luna,” he says, his tongue tripping over my name so it comes out like a choked curse word. “I have an apology to make.”

He looks past the camera, and I picture Thornfield nodding at him, perhaps holding up some kind of poster with the exact words on it that Steven is supposed to be repeating.

“I treated you very badly, and you deserve better.” He swallows hard. He never apologized to me once in the two years we were together, no matter what he did or how much he hurt me. All the times I went to bed crying or begged him to just be kind to me... he never said he was sorry.

“I am truly, very sorry for the way I treated you.” Steven’s hands are shaking. He looks suddenly terrified and begins to speak quicker. “I am a monster. A narcissistic, control-loving, power-hungry abuser.”

There is a pause. “Say it again and mean it this time.” Lucien’s voice growls.

Steven clears his throat. “I am a monster. A narcissistic, control-loving, power-hungry abuser.”

“Again,” Lucien barks.

“I am a monster. A narcissistic, control-loving, power-hungry abuser.”

“Again,” Lucien commands, louder this time.

He makes Steven say those words again, and again, and again until finally... finally... it sounds as though he means them.

They break as they pass his lips. Crack and splinter and are swallowed up by his tears.

A choked sob thickens in my mouth. I close my eyes tightly. I feel the warmth of Lucien’s gaze on me. But when I open my eyes again, he’s no longer there. Pressure lands on my shoulders. Gentle but firm.

He is standing behind me.

One hand moves from my shoulder to my chin. He holds my face, tilting it down so I’m forced to keep watching. His lips are by my ear, his breath strangely warm and comforting on my sensitive neck.

“This is the best bit, Luna,” he whispers.

Steven is crying loudly now. Big, thick tears are rolling down his pale cheeks. He shakes his head. “Please,” he whispers.

Silence greets his plea. He looks back at the camera. At me.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Luna, and I don’t deserve an easy death.” His eyes widen. He is trembling. “I deserve to suffer for what I did to you.” He starts to pull against the restraints on his wrists. “I deserve to suffer because a man like me will never know how to treat a woman as special as you.”

A shadow falls over him.

The silhouette of Lucien’s broad, muscular body appears. White shirt, black braces. Just like today. He is holding a large, curved blade in his hand.

“I’m glad you think so,” Lucien says slowly. “Because I’m going to make sure you get exactly what you deserve. I’m going to make sure you can never hurt her again.”

I don’t think I’m breathing. I have forgotten how.

The heat of Lucien’s hand on my shoulder, and on my neck, and the closeness of his body as he leans over the chair behind me... it is dizzying.

“Does watching that make you feel powerful?” he asks.

My palms and fingers are clammy. “I don’t know what it makes me feel.”

“Maybe you should watch it again,” he whispers.

I watch the video three more times.

Each time, I notice something different. The fear in Steven’s eyes. How weak he looks. How pathetic. Like a field mouse caught in the talons of a predator it can never hope to defeat.