Lena’s POV
“Get out of my way.”
My voice was firm, but inside, I was unraveling.
Zeke stood in front of the door, arms crossed, feet planted like he was a damn mountain. He wasn’t going to let me pass.
His jaw was tight, his expression unreadable, but his eyes—those piercing blue eyes—burned with something that made my chest tighten.
“You were going to run.”
It wasn’t a question.
I swallowed hard. My pulse pounded so loud I swore he could hear it.
“I was going to end this,” I said quietly.
A half-truth. Because I was going to end it. One way or another.
Zeke studied me, his gaze searching my face, looking for cracks in my resolve. I held my ground, forcing myself to meet his eyes, to stand tall, to lie even when my entire body betrayed me.
His lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t believe me.
Of course, he didn’t.
Zeke wasn’t just dangerous because of the power he held. He was dangerous because he knew me. Saw through me in ways no one else ever had.
My fingers curled into fists. I should have pushed past him. Should have fought harder.
But then—he stepped forward.
Instead of stopping me, instead of throwing me into the war he had planned, he closed the space between us in slow, deliberate steps.
My breath caught. His fingers grazed my jaw, his touch featherlight, like he was testing me.
I didn’t move. Didn’t want to.
He tilted my chin up, his thumb running along my cheek, pausing when it reached my scar. His touch was soft where everything about him was sharp.
“You don’t get to leave me, Lena.”
His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but it slammed into me like a force of nature.
I should have pushed him away.
Should have told him he was wrong, that I didn’t belong here, that I had to go.
But I didn’t. Instead, I let him kiss me. Hard. Desperate.
Like we were two people drowning, and this was the only way to breathe.
A low sound rumbled in Zeke’s chest as his hand slid to my waist, pulling me against him like he was afraid I’d disappear.
Maybe I was afraid, too. Afraid of what this meant.
Afraid that despite everything—despite the war raging outside these walls, despite the blood in both our pasts—I wanted this.
I wanted him. The world around us blurred.
The past. The danger. The secrets. None of it mattered in that moment. Just him. Just us.
Then—
A gunshot shattered the night.
Glass exploded, shards raining down around us as a bullet ripped through the window.
Zeke’s grip tightened around me, his body moving fast, shielding me as we hit the ground. My heart slammed into my ribs, my ears ringing.
The air was thick with dust, the acrid scent of gunpowder lingering in the air.
I barely had time to breathe before Zeke’s voice cut through the chaos.
“Lena, stay down!!!”