Page 95 of Requiem
A broken sound escapes Emma.
“No, you won’t,” he corrects gently. “You belong to me, little rockstar. And I’m reminding you of that fact. I fuckingownyou. I always will. You’re only alive right now because I allow it.”
Emma is closer now. I can feel her at my side.
Alexei exhales softly into the phone, almost thoughtful. “Tell me,” he continues, “are they all there with you? Your little collection of saviors?”
My fingers tighten around the phone.
“I imagine they are,” he goes on, voice turning darker, more possessive. “It would be a shame if something happened to them before you made it back to me. Accidents happen so easily. People disappear. People get sold. You remember intimately how that works, don’t you, Jude?”
My vision sharpens, the image of those women and girls getting auctioned off flashing behind my eyes. “Touch them,” I growl, “and I swear to god—”
“????????.”
The word drops into the space like a switch flipping, and everything disappears.
Gone.
My body moves before I know what I’m doing. It’s fast, violent, and controlled by something that isn’t me. My hand shoots out, forcing space between me and the closest thing to me.
Her.
Emma’s body hits the counter hard, the sound cracking through the room as something crashes to the floor beside her. My other hand curls into a fist, my chest heaving as my vision tunnels, narrowing into fragments.
Kill.
The command echoes through my skull like it’s being carved into bone.
“Jude!” Micah’s voice cuts through, distant at first. Then, closer, because hands are on me, yanking me back. “Jude, it’s me.Hey,look at me.”
I fight it. Instinctively. My body jerks, trying to break free, trying to follow through on something I don’t even fully see.Kill. Kill. Kill—
Air.
My lungs burn as I suck in a breath that doesn’t feel like enough, and the room slams back into place. My gaze snaps to Emma, my heart clenching violently at the sight of her frozen against the counter, eyes wide.
Fuck. No.
My stomach drops out from under me, and the phone is suddenly gone from my hand. Rafe’s voice cuts through now, calm and cold as he takes over the call like nothing just happened.
“That will be enough,” he says into the speaker, his tone reprimanding. “You’ve made your point.”
Alexei laughs. “Have I? It seems he still responds quite well.”
Rafe doesn’t rise to it. “Enjoy your evening.”
The line goes dead, and silence crashes down over the room.
Micah’s grip is still on me, his voice lower now. “Breathe. Come on. You’re back. You’re good.”
Adriana stares at me, and when I lock with her gaze, I almost fucking cry. Because she knows. Sheknowswhat that word has forced me to do.
My chest rises and falls, my hands trembling as the last of it drains out of me. “I—” My voice breaks. I look at Emma again, taking in the space I forced between us, the way she’s steadying herself against the counter. “I didn’t—” I swallow hard. “I didn’t mean—”
Rafe steps forward, interrupting my attempts at an apology. “What word?”
I blink, still catching up, my head foggy but clearing. “What?”
