Page 81 of House of Pawns
“Ian,” I whisper. My heart is racing. Thundering. I’m sweating. From fear. Because Raheem gave me a warning to how the King would take to another man being involved when I might be his wife. But also, this sweating. The way my brain feels slightly hazy around the edges. I know the pill is taking hold quickly. “You cannot be here. If he finds you. If he hears you…”
“I don’t care,” Ian breathes. One of his hands comes up to cup my cheek and his nose brushes mine. “We can stop this. We can have a few good years. Let’s go be together. Away. From all of this.”
Tears bite at the back of my eyes. I want that.
So badly.
I bring my hands to either side of his face. And I am not in control of myself when I lean forward and my lips are on his. This feels like home. This is always where I was supposed to be.
With Ian Ward.
But pain fills my chest. “I would have left with you. All I wanted was for you to take me. We could have gone, and had forever.”
Ian’s eyes find mine, and I see it all there.Nothing has really changed. “I could never wish this on you. You must live because you can, Liv. Don’t waste this life.”
I take half a step back from him, my hands falling from him. “And you could never see that I cannot run from something I was born into.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this, Liv,” he says, sounding desperate. He clings to me, trying to pull me closer, but I don’t allow him to. “Your father didn’t accept it. He stayed away from this twisted and demented world. You don’t have to do this.”
My eyelids droop. My heart, which hammered and raced just a minute ago, slows. It calms. The beats come slower and slower.
And Ian hears it. Because suddenly his eyes grow wide and they stare at my chest.
“What did you do?” he suddenly asks. Horror fills his face. His grip on me slips momentarily and I stumble before he grips me tighter.
A single tear slips out onto my cheek. “I wanted you to do it. I wanted you to be able to accept me. As I am. As I was Born. Please,” I beg. My hands reach up to cling to his shirt. “Please do it, Ian. Before it’s too late.”
He shakes his head, his eyes still big and wide. “I…”
My legs give out and I drop, Ian catching me just before I hit the floor.
“Liv!” he lets out a terrified gasp.
And suddenly, I’m the one who is terrified. Because it was so loud, him saying my name so desperately.
My vision goes blurry and I can make out little more than shapes.
“Please,” I say. Just as I hear the door to my bedroom burstopen. I see two shapes and hear shouts and things breaking. The support holding me up is gone and I feel as if I shatter on the floor.
My hearing has gone all muffled and my eyes fight to stay open, even though I can’t see more than blurry orbs.
More noise. So angry. So much that’s instantly gone wrong.
This was supposed to be quiet. And alone.
Suddenly, it’s a crowd and a brawl. Someone will die.
I just know it.
And not just me.
Run,I silently beg Ian.Please run.
My eyelids slide closed, but I can feel it, my heart will still beat for a few minutes.
I feel myself yanked from the floor, harsh and painful. But not as painful as the fangs that suddenly sink into my neck. I’m already numb, so I don’t feel myself freeze. I just feel the sucking, the pulling. I feel my blood leaving my body. Quickly.
I feel the cold that comes over me.
