“I swear, I will find out for sure if your friend is in the dungeon.”
Lina swallows. “And you’ll tell me? The truth?”
I nod. My stomach sinks, unsure I can live up to that promise.
She stands, takes two steps and then turns to face me. Something wars in her eyes. I want to know her fears, her hopes. Her everything. And yet, I know I cannot be trusted with them.
“You care for me?”
Again, I nod. She returns, and stops right in front of me. She tugs at the mask on my face, lowering it slowly.
“Why do you ignore me, then?” she asks. “Why do you leave me alone each night?”
I flinch. Blood suddenly hot. Boiling.
It cools quickly, though, as I consider our reality. “Would you rather me fuck you? While you are trapped here against your will? While you have no choice? Is that what would convince you of my love?”
She swallows and looks away from me, cheeks red.
“There is no purity in this place. No justice. No rightness. It’s not a possibility.”
“That can’t be true.” Her hand presses against my chest. “There is rightness here. I can feel it.”
She stares at me, searching, begging. She wants to believe in me.
I want so desperately to believe in return.
It’s another symptom of the disease. I am a fool. I am weak.
“I can’t be what you want me to be,” I admit, voice dry. I am so close to losing control. I could have her. Right now, I could take her body in every way I’ve dreamed.
She would let me. I can see it in her expression.
She wants it too.
And fuck, that thought alone is enough to send me over the edge. She leans in, achingly slow.
She stops just shy of her lips touching mine. My skin buzzes, my muscles clench and unclench.
“Escape with me,” she whispers against my lips.
I flinch back, horrified. But just as quickly hope—dangerous, sickening hope—spreads through my chest.
Her hand is on my stomach. I want it under my clothes, on my skin. I can barely think.
“There is a way. You can get us out of here, I know it.”
She slips her thighs over mine, and my head rolls back in agony. I need her like I need air.
“Do you want me?” she asks. Her pleading tone is a dagger to my soul. God, I wish I could live up to what she believes right now.
My head spins.
“You’re the only thing I’ve ever truly desired,” I whisper, the desperate man inside crying out before I restrain him. The darkness that pulls at me is quiet.
Mavros was right; she strengthens my soul against the Nihil, but she weakens my resolve.
She licks her lips. “What if I told you I desired you too?”
