Page 102 of While She Sleeps

Because it’s been him all along.

Orion is the Hunter.

Which means Orion killed my brother.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

ORION

Iwatch as recognition turns to pure panic, and then she’s gone.

Ember clambers off the edge of the bed, pain lancing over her features from moving too quickly, and I flinch at the idea she’d rather hurt herself than be close to me.

“Little Flame,” I say carefully, my hands up in front of me. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Not going to hurt me?” she asks incredulously. “You almostkilledme! And you did kill my brother. The only person that’s ever had my back. You stole everything from me!” A ragged sob tears from her throat as she backs away, putting more and more distance between us.

“Just let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain, Orion? Or should I call you Hunter?” She drops her head for a moment, trying to get control of her raging emotions. “You’ve lied to me every single day since we met! You’re the reason my whole fucking life fell apart! The reason I can’t get into a car. The reason I’ve wanted to die every day since Travis died!”

I flinch at the admission. I knew she was struggling. I knew she was hurting herself. But I didn’t realize how deep that painran. I didn’t realize she’d thought about making it all go away. Forever.

The thought of a world without Ember is so painful that I barely keep my legs underneath me. She’s the stars that shine in my darkness, and I wouldn’t want to live in a world where she’s not.

“You don’t understand,” I say carefully. “There are things you don’t know.”

“I’m sure there are. Like that the man I let inside me is the same man that tore my life apart.”

She doesn’t give me another second to explain before she slips into the bathroom and slams the door closed behind her. The lock clicks into place a moment later, and I eat up the distance between myself and the door.

“Ember, please let me explain. It’s not what you think.” That’s a lie. In a lot of ways, it’s exactly what she thinks.

I did do all the things she’s accusing me of.

I killed her brother.

I almost killed her.

I am the reason she’s been miserable since the accident. The reason she’s struggled. The reason Lucas threw even more debt onto her plate.

But it wasn’t purely selfish.

“Go away.” She sobs from the other side of the door.

“No,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s you and me, Ember. Forever.”

“I’ll never let you touch me again, Orion. I’d rather die than have your hands on me ever again.”

“You don’t mean that,” I murmur, but there’s truth in those words. I can feel her anger, her despair, even through the door. “That night, the night of the accident, Travis was driving you up into the hills to force you to marry Lucas. He traded the rest of his debt for you.”

Silence greets me on the other side of the door, but I wait. It’s a truth I’ve been desperate to give her for months, long before I allowed myself close to her.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not, Ember. I promise I’m not. Didn’t you wonder why they got so protective of you all of a sudden? Why they tracked your movements? Why wouldn’t they let you out on jobs that involved men? Why they sabotaged your dates?”

“How do you know about all of that?”

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