Page 56 of The Guru: Shadow

“No.”

You’ve got to be kidding me!And more anger rose in her.

“You are responsible, Emma. Because you let your past define your future.”

And then he reached her.

She could only stare at him while her heart pounded relentlessly against her chest.

“Tell me, you’ve thought about killing yourself many times, haven’t you, Emma?”

The room around her began to spin. The moment he said it, everything in her started to buzz, her ears, it was too much.

“Answer.”

She nodded.

So many fucking times.

“I see you. I feel you. We all do. Here’s the thing, Emma. You have a choice. You can go back to your old and miserable life, lying to yourself. Or we can make a deal in front of all these witnesses that, from now on, you will be you, unapologetically you. And you will go out for your dreams, you will fight for what you want, and there will be no more people ruling your life.”

There they were, his piercing eyes, staring at her. One of his hands on the right side of her face. But she did not feel it. She felt none of it because it was all a fucking lie. It was a role he played; nothing of it meant anything to him. He was unable to feel empathy. The only reason he was ‘helping’ others was because they thanked him for it. And she would sure as hell not be a part of it. There were indeed no more people ruling her life. Starting with him. And she let her microphone fall to the floor.

“I see you, too,” she whispered and wiggled out of his grip and ran.

“Emma, stop,” he roared after her.

And she stopped just for a step.

“If you leave now, there is no coming back. You must see, life always happens for you, not to you.”

But she didn’t hear him anymore.

I must get out. I must. There is not enough air in here.

The moment she burst out of the conference room, air flooded her lungs again. She leaned against the wall opposite the door, trembling. All those people knew her face and her story now.

And then the door opened again. Deis stormed out, ripped the microphone from his face and threw it on the floor.

Something in his eyes had changed. Or his mask was finally off. But what she saw made her run.

“Not another step,” he roared behind her.

Exit, where is the fucking exit?

But it was too late. His presence behind her radiated onto her back before his hand gripped around her wrist.

“I told you to stop.”

With it, he pulled her back and pushed her hard front facing into the wall next to them.

“I am not your puppet.”

“No, you are not. But you aremine.”And he leaned himself onto her, one hand wandering around her throat.

Damn.

A shiver like a waterfall of ice cascaded down her back, and somewhere deep down, in her deepest and most hidden core, an ecstatic prickling sprang to life. Only it couldn’t be. He was a dangerous man, and she would not let herself be consumed by him again.

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