Page 206 of Buried in Blood

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But in confrontation.

He walks toward me through the flames, wearing that smile like a mask of divinity.

And I tell him the truth:

You never made me.

You just woke the worst part of me—and she helped me kill it.

Harmony saved me.

Not with softness.

But with fury.

With defiance.

With the same fire I used to destroy everything he loved.

Now?

I’m just a man.

A man in love with the girl who got away—and came back stronger.

A man who tore down an empire and built silence in its place.

And if he were still alive?

I think even Damien would be impressed.

But he’s not.

He’s dead.

Buried in blood.

And all that’s left of him is a name no one speaks anymore.

Good.

Let it rot with the rest.

Epilogue: Reese

It’s been six months, and I still wake up needing to touch her.

Not to check that she’s real—though I do that too.

But because I crave her like oxygen. Like violence. Like peace.

Harmony’s sprawled across the bed, face buried in the pillow, bare back glowing with the morning light. Her thigh’s slung over mine, her hair tangled, her breathing soft and slow.

I run my fingers along her spine. She shivers.

“You’re staring again,” she mumbles, voice sleep-wrecked.

“Wouldn’t need to if you didn’t look like sin every fucking morning.”

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