The Unseen Cost of Love

ight now. Can I

voice. It wa

d over me, more chilling t

umph. "Well, well, well. Look who answered the

Then Carson's voice, sharper now,

e pet," Demetrius snarled. "And if he ever want

before she

for good measure. "So,

al agony was nothing compared to the image in my head: Damien a

but for him. Demetrius was unhinged. He could

me again, his phone rang. He looked at the caller I

d hear snippets of the conversation. "...Yes... The price we agreed upon... She'

e had mad

atisfaction on his face. He sneered, then turned and wa

kill me. But a few minutes

as C

at me, crumpled and bleeding, and her face was a mask of cool indifference. She ha

d, her voice devo

touch surprisingly strong. "

s throbbing, and I was sure

creet. He stitched my lip, checked my ribs, and fitted me for a tempor

her arms crossed. When the doctor

oice low. "For taking the be

kidnapping, the beating. It was all her. She had created a cris

emetrius?" I managed to

rotect Damien, and you can't. You saw it yourself. He left you in a burning buildi

revisiting the places that held our history. The cheap diner where we celebrated his first

re. I had built my entire world around Damien, and without him, I was just a ghost.

my phone rang

, his voice tight with an

the park I was in. He w

alone?" he asked, his gaze

ss it, Damien? The struggle? The days

ed out at the city skyline, at the gleam

hard. "I don't. I hate that time. I hate

past, the foundation I thought our love w

f that shame? Was my love just a rem

I already kn

ip pulling painfully. "You're right. W