Page 16 of Delirium
“Ophelia—”
“Did you sleep with her before or after you thought I was dead?” I asked.
“No.” He shook his head. “Don’t. Please.”
“When, Storm? When did you sleep with her?”
Bitter bravery swam through me, but I knew I would shatter the minute he spoke.
“After.” He sighed. “Two weeks after they found you. But I knew it wasn’t you. I knew you weren’t dead.” He tried explaining, justifying what he did, but every single word fell on deaf ears, only causing more damage.
Flames licked over my skin, and every part of me pressed against him, hurt, burning with an unforgettable fire.
“Talk to me, please. Say something,” he begged, peppering kisses over my shoulder, over my neck, but I couldn’t speak.
I didn’t trust myself if I spoke right now. I didn’t trust that the words clawing at my throat wouldn’t erupt with the volcanic strength, destroying everything around them.
He thought he might not see me ever again, and he chose to go to her.
He…
“Let go of me, Storm,” I mumbled calmly. Calmer than I felt.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his words muffled by my hair. “I am so sorry, Ophelia.”
“I wish I’d never met you.” I smiled. “I wish I’d never crossed that street, Storm. I wish that you were nothing but a figment of my imagination, a silly dream I wanted to have. I wish I was stronger than my heart.”
“No, don’t say that,” he argued. “Please, don’t say that.”
“I wish our paths never crossed,” I continued, ignoring the pain in his voice. “I wish Kieran was a better man back then, capable of loving me.”
“No!” he roared. “I love you,” he whimpered. “I love you, Ophelia.”
“Your love hurts. Your love burns, Storm. Your love brought me down to my knees, and I was never on my knees before. I was never this weak, this pathetic, this powerless…” I trailed off. “You managed to destroy me, Storm.”
“I didn’t want to destroy you,” he murmured. “I wanted to hold you. To love you. To show you the world.”
“And I wanted you to understand me,” I said, turning my head from him, unable to bear his touch anymore. “I guess that you and Kieran have something in common after all.” I chuckled. “Neither one of you was capable of loving me in the way I deserved.”
As if I’d doused him with cold water, he suddenly stumbled backward, releasing me from his hold.
My chest ached, my arms shaking as my hand gripped the handle of my knife. I turned around slowly, pushing my hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. His wide eyes, filled with fear, were focused on my face, his mouth open agape as he stared at me.
“You have one other thing in common.” I chuckled brokenly, walking toward him, cornering him against the window.
“We are nothing alike,” he bit out. “That man destroyed you.”
“Nuh-uh.” I smiled. “He tried to destroy me.” I stopped in front of him. “You only finished the job.”
And I was going to return the favor.
“Ophelia, it’s not like—” But he never got to finish his sentence. He never got to lie to me again.
With the strength I didn’t know I still possessed, my arm lifted up and in a blink of an eye, the knife I was holding went through the soft tissue right underneath his shoulder, all the way to the hilt.
His howl of pain pierced through my ears, his body trying to fight against me, but I wouldn’t let it. I wouldn’t let him get away from this.
I turned the knife to the right, opening the wound wider, letting the blood spill over his body, over my hand. My left hand pressed against his chest, pushing him backward, and then wrapped around his throat, feeling his pulse beating erratically just under my thumb.
