Page 98 of Where Angels Fall

Kai’s chains shift again. He leans forward as much as they’ll allow, and when he speaks again, his voice is steadier.

“Look at me.”

My lashes flutter. My gaze drifts up, slow and heavy, like moving my eyes takes more strength than moving my body.

Kai’s eyes don’t leave me. They hold the line between me and whatever darkness is trying to drag me under.

“I love him,” I whisper, voice thick as the words fall out. If I can’t tell Ash, I need to tell someone. I force my drowsy gaze to hold his. “I love him, Kai...”

My face crumples and a sound slips out of me like something dying. Hot tears slide down my face, streaking down my cheeks, catching on the swelling and the dried blood and the places that ache when I breathe.

“And I chose that asshole over him. That disgusting... horrific man over Ash. How could I do that?” My voice takes on a slight slur as exhaustion weighs heavily on my shoulders. “And now I’m going to die. And I can’t even say sorry. Will... will you? Will you tell him that I’m sorry? And that... He is the best person... That I know... And I lo... I love him!”

My eyes drift closed, needing to see him again, if only in my mind. Those dimples. Those lips. Why is he so damn pretty? It’s not fair.

“Eyes on me, Maddy,” Kai grits out again, and they open, finding him staring at me. “Don’t you fucking close those eyes again. And you’ll tell him yourself.”

A sad, pathetic huff leaves me as my lip trembles.

“I won’t tell him... I’m dying, Kai. Promise me you’ll tell him?” I murmur, a sad smile curving my lips.

Kai’s jaw tightens, a muscle ticking once near his temple. For a second, his eyes look past me, not at the mess on the floor, not at the knives buried in my thigh, but at something inside his own head. His lashes flutter as those dark eyes focus back on me.

“You’re not dying,” he says, and there’s no comfort in it, no softness. It’s a statement... an order. “Not here.”

I let out a weak, broken laugh that turns into a wince. “Kai...”

“Promise me you’ll keep your eyes on me. And I’ll promise you I’ll tell Ash you love him,” he cuts in again, voice turning urgent.

My lashes flutter. The room swims. But I drag my gaze back up to him because t’s the only thing that feels solid. Nodding, I keep my eyes on him.

Kai’s chest rises slowly, controlled.

“You didn’t choose him,” Kai says after a beat, and something sharp presses into my chest at how certain he sounds. “You were conditioned to. There’s a difference.”

Words spoken by a man who rarely speaks, comforts me more than I thought would be possible right now. Down here, in this concrete cell where hope shouldn’t be a possibility, he gives it to me.

“You don’t know what it’s like,” I whisper, the words barely squeezing out. “To spend your whole life trying to be... enough. To think if you just do one more thing right, he’ll finally look at you like you matter. And for what?” I scoff, shaking my head. “To find out who he really is.”

Kai’s gaze doesn’t waver. “I know what it’s like to be raised by a man who thinks love is earned,” he says, voice flat. Something dark enters his voice. “And I know what it does to you.”

My breath stutters as my eyes flick up to his arms, the ones covered in those circular scars. When my eyes find his again, they darken.

Kai turns his head to the doorway Zeke disappeared through, then back to me. His face is carved into that same blank calm, but there is something in his posture now. Muscles coiled and ready.

“You listen to me,” he says, voice lowering. “Ash is going to tear the world apart when she sees that video, if he’s not already. He will come. He will burn everything between him and you.”

Hope is a dangerous thing. It blooms for half a second, bright and fragile, before fear smothers it.

“No, I... You didn’t see his face when I betrayed him. He isn’t coming, Kai.” My voice is defeated, thinking back to that horrible moment.

Kai’s gaze hardens. “If you think for one second that he’s not, then you don’t know him at all. He’s coming. And we will be ready for it.”

The words barely leave his mouth before he moves. It’s subtle at first, a shift of his shoulders, the muscles rippling in his arms. His head dips slightly, chin towards his chest. My brow furrows as I watch, confused at what’s happening.

He’s completely silent, but his face hardens slightly. I don’t understand what I’m seeing until his restraints jerk once. Twice.

My heart lurches into my throat.