Page 47 of Requiem
I nod, more to myself than to him, and open the door. The moment I step out, I nearly collide with Emma. And everything in me goes still. Her hair is slightly disheveled, and her eyes are red from crying.
My stomach drops instantly. “Emma,” I say carefully.
“How is he?” she asks, her voice quiet.
I clear my throat. “He’s okay. He’s doing a little better.”
Her shoulders ease a fraction, seemingly relieved. But it doesn’t reach the exhaustion carved into her face. For a moment, neither of us moves. Then I realize she’s not really looking at me. Her gaze keeps flicking past my shoulder, toward the door I just came out of. The woman is such an incredible person. I see why Jude loves her. She has every right to be angry and hate me and actually bash my head into a wall…but she doesn’t.
They’re twoinsanelykind souls with an intimidating moral compass who are meant to be together.
“How long were you standing there?” I ask gently.
Her eyes finally meet mine again. “Long enough,” she says. She shifts like she’s about to leave, already pulling herself away from the moment, from me, from everything. Like she’s running on fumes. I can only imagine that she is. If someone I loved was taken from me like this I would be…beside myself. Lost.
“Emma,” I say before she can turn.
She pauses.
I swallow, the words catching for a second because I don’t deserve to say them, and yet I can’t stop myself from trying. “I’m sorry. For all of it.” I struggle to get the rest out. “You should have had a different life.”
Despite her obvious sadness, she inclines her chin. “I know,” she says, quieter now. “He and I were robbed of something really special.Years.”
We stand there in the quiet, narrow hallway, and I realize how strange it is. She’s standing in front of the woman who hurt the man she loves for years. The woman who’s partially responsible for him walking away from her. I’ve taken so much from her. From him.
Fuck.I don’t deserve to come out of this. I won’t ever forgive myself for what I’ve done.
“I don’t know how to fix him,” she admits after a moment, pulling me back from my thoughts. “I don’t know how to reach him before things get worse.”
My throat aches. “It will take a little time. But he’s aware enough, thankfully. Whatever Alexei did to him wasn’t enough to destroy him completely.”
She exhales shakily, like she’s trying not to break apart right here in front of me. “I just keep thinking…if I lose him before he even gets back to himself, then what was any of this for?”
I don’t have an answer for that. So I just say, “He knows you’re there. Even when he can’t look at you properly. Heknows. He clung to his love for you. Think about that any moment you’re feeling doubt. Remembering your lovesavedhis life.”
That makes her eyes flicker, and she opens her mouth to respond, but suddenly, heavy footsteps grab our attention.
Micah’s voice cuts through our quiet moment. “EMMA!”
Both of us look up at the same time, instinctively. He appears at the top of the stairs, breathing hard, face drained of all color in a way that makes my stomach drop before he even speaks.
His eyes lock onto Emma first. “He released the video.”
Chapter thirteen
EMMA EASTON
I don’t remember moving. One second I’m standing in the hallway, and the next I’m already running, footsteps slamming against the stairs as I take them two at a time. Adriana is right behind me, and I can hear the house erupting before I even get up there.
By the time we reach the living room, it’s chaos. Rafe is standing near the center of the room, phone in hand, his jaw locked while staring at the screen. Heather is beside him, her face drained of color as she scrolls on her own phone. Nico is hunched over his laptop, multiple tabs open, fingers flying.
Micah snatches his phone off the table, already unlocking it and shoving it into my hand. And then I see it.
It’severywhere.
It’s on verified accounts, major platforms, clipped and reposted, headlines already forming around it like fucking little vultures circling a body that's still warm. Notifications are exploding across every screen inthe room. Anonymous tip with exclusive footage of the falling star, Jude Graves.
My stomach drops so fast that I'm dizzy. “No,” I whisper, but my thumb is already pressing play.
