Until the World Falls Down

Chapter 10

10

N ever had the sight of stairs brought me more relief than now—although these stairs differed from the ones I’d appeared in front of last time. These were crumbling and chalky, the carpet over them frayed and faded. It was as if the castle had deteriorated even further in the time I’d been gone. The stained-glass windows lining the walls had cracks, leaving shattered glass scattered everywhere. Rain sheeted against the windows, spraying me with a cool mist. I started my ascent carefully, using the dismal light from the cracked windows to find the safest spots to step. The pendant on my chest was suspiciously cold and dormant.

Something felt off. The castle had always given off an unsettling feeling, but this was different. A heaviness in the air threatened to make my knees collapse under me with every stair I climbed. The kind that reminded me of how I felt when I’d seen Veronica and Julian sitting together in front of me. Something was wrong.

Enver’s words echoed in my head. This labyrinth is as much a part of me as I am of it .

My pace quickened, and I took the stairs two at a time, no longer caring about the glass. What happened while I was gone? Why was the castle in such a state? Had something happened to Enver? But even if it had, why did I care?

Still, I didn’t stop moving, panting as I reached the top. The light from the windows could not touch the landing, leaving it covered in darkness. I didn’t hesitate to step into it, searching for the door waiting for me amidst it. My hand wrapped around a cold doorknob, and I twisted it, pushing the door open.

Thunder rolled overhead as I walked into a room that immediately set me on edge. It emitted a tense atmosphere. One that made my heart pick up and my feet slow. Floor-to-ceiling windows dominated the towering walls, their glass panels rain-streaked, shedding a shadowy overcast over everything. The streams of water also distorted the view of the outside, and I couldn’t make out how high I’d gone up. But judging by the way the ceiling pinched together at its highest point as I looked up, I thought I was in one of the castle’s towers.

A flash of lightning nearly blinded me, and I turned away. The burst echoed in my eyes, blurring my vision for a moment. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the afterimage. Another streak of lightning lit up the sky, and my gaze caught on a figure in the center of the room, his dark silhouette unmistakable.

Enver.

As the lightning faded, shadows obscured him again, but not before I witnessed him dropping to his knees, hunching over himself.

My body moved before my mind caught up. I rushed across the carpeted floor, thunder crashing so hard around us that the windowpanes shook. “Enver!” I called, a fear I shouldn’t have felt for him rising in my chest.

As I approached, more shadows manifested, lunging at me. I gasped, throwing my hands up to protect myself, but they halted inches away from crashing into me, dematerializing under the glow of a lightning strike. I looked at Enver, seeing more swirling tendrils surrounding him.

Protecting him.

“It’s okay,” I breathed, holding out a hand. “I want to help him.”

I moved forward cautiously, and they didn’t attack again. I knelt in front of Enver as I reached him, my hands going to his shoulders. I took in the way he held his fist to his chest, fingers tangled in the silk of his shirt. His black hair fell into his face, concealing his features from me. His breath came out in ragged gasps, his shoulders quaking.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my pulse hammering. “Are you hurt?”

He didn’t answer, pitching forward, and the hand not currently clenching desperately at his chest shot out to brace himself on the floor beside me. His head rested against my collarbone, right where my dress had torn, and I froze, feeling something wet against my skin. Blood? Was he injured?

“What’s wrong?” I repeated more urgently. “Enver?—”

He lifted his head, and my voice died in my throat. Tears glistened on his lashes, briefly illuminated by another streak of lightning. His gaze, normally stoic and impenetrable, betrayed an agony so raw and vulnerable it took my breath away. It was as if a century of pain coalesced there.

His lips parted, a shaky breath escaping from them. “What have you done?” he demanded, and a tear dripped from his lashes, sliding down his cheek.

He made no move to brush it away. My gaze followed its path down his perfect skin to where it dropped off his chin, onto the hand pressed against his chest that seemed to cradle an invisible wound—right over where his heart should be. Another chased it, splashing onto his bone-white knuckles.

“What is this?” he demanded, his desperate gaze searching mine. “I feel… ”

My eyes widened. Enver felt . “Dio completed the labyrinth,” I breathed, my voice nearly drowned out by the relentless rain hammering against the windowpanes. Which meant that, after a century of being devoid of it, Enver was being consumed by…

“It is agonizing,” Enver admitted hoarsely, more tears spilling down his cheeks. “This sadness.”

Something inside me broke at the sight of his sorrow. He reminded me of myself the night at the club. Desperate. Hurting. I threw my arms around him, pressing myself close to him, crushing his hand between us. The muscles in his back tensed under my tight embrace, but he didn’t make any move to push me away. I clung to him, feeling his body tremble against mine.

Seeing him unravel before me like this pulled at an empathy I didn’t want to feel for him. At that moment, Enver seemed human. Being crushed by the weight of misery, unable to do anything but suffer through it. “It’s okay,” I murmured, soothingly running my fingers through his hair.

Eventually, Enver’s hand snaked out from between our chests, releasing the death grip he had on his chest to loop around my waist. He tucked his chin in the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. I closed my eyes, my fingers stroking from the crown of his head down to his neck, over his shoulders and back, comforting him until his breathing gradually steadied and the storm outside lulled to a faint drizzle.

When he finally drew back, I released him, looking into his red-rimmed eyes. Wetness lingered on his cheeks, and I raised my hand to brush it away. His eyes closed, and he leaned into my touch as if savoring the warmth of my palm. I caressed his cheek with my thumb, much like he’d done to me the night he found me in the club. When he’d soothed my sadness with gentle touches and kisses.

Before I could stop myself, I rose on my knees and leaned forward, kissing the high point of his cheek, replicating the memory. His lips parted in a soft exhale as I repeated the motion on the other side, kissing away the saltiness of his tears.

He tilted his head up, and the heady haze of his half-lidded eyes took my breath away. “Again.”

My pulse quickened. “I can’t,” I said, forcing myself to release his face but unable to convince myself to move away from him altogether.

“Stay,” he rasped, taking my hand in his and pressing it back against his cheek. Our shadow rings materialized, their tendrils curling together, binding us. “Kiss me. Distract me from this agony. It is more than flesh and blood can endure. I fear I will shatter without your touch.”

Whether I should didn’t matter anymore. His plea resonated with my heart. I knew that hurt. That pain. That want for distraction. I couldn’t deny him. I wouldn’t. He had never denied me.

Our lips found each other’s, and Enver sighed into my mouth, his immediate respite audible. His lips were warm and pliant against mine as I kissed him slowly, wrapping my arms around him again, feeling the tension leave his body with each soft breath he let out. I traced the seam of his lips with my tongue before parting them, making him shudder. I explored the contours of his mouth with unhurried strokes, and he moaned softly, his back tensing under my fingers. He suddenly rose on his knees, pushing gently on my shoulders. I let him go and allowed him to guide me onto my back on the carpet. He settled between my thighs, his own thigh catching the underside of my knee, spreading my legs further as he moved up my body, creating space for him to press flush against me. His weight was a warm, welcome familiarity, and I wound my arms around his neck as he slid one hand under my back, his other coming up to cradle my jaw.

He deepened the kiss, delving into me with a fervor that set my blood on fire. Every brush of his tongue against mine had me arching into him, wanting more. His hand at my back pushed up, forcing us even closer, as if being crushed together still wasn’t enough for him. I could hardly think, swept away by the taste of him, the heat of his touch, and then understood why he considered this a distraction. I only thought of him. He took over my senses completely.

And as he pulled back to give me a moment to catch my breath, scattering sweet kisses across my nose, cheeks, forehead, and all the spaces between, I knew he only thought of me, too.

“I need you,” Enver murmured against the corner of my lips.

His words sent a rush of desire through my body. And at that moment, I wanted to cling to them, to believe them. I wanted him to need me. I wanted him to treat me as his lover, like he promised so many times before. But I knew he couldn’t. I knew I needed to say no. A kiss was one thing, but I couldn’t give him my body again. Not as a distraction. Not when he didn’t really want me.

My throat worked, but no sound came out as his gaze met mine, burning with desire. Directed toward me.

It speared through me, piercing my fragile resistance. Would it be so bad? To only be desired? I could pretend he loved me. Hadn’t I been doing that my entire life, anyway? Pretending people loved me when they never did, to begin with? How would this be any different?

I wouldn’t ever have a love like Neima and Paloma shared. I wouldn’t ever have a loving relationship with Veronica, as Dio had with Luliana. I didn’t even know if anyone would ever love me. So why shouldn’t I just take what I could get? At least Enver wanted me in some way. That was more than I’d ever received from anyone before.

I let my head fall back, surrendering to Enver’s false affections .

He indulged me, kissing under my ear. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured against my skin. “So lovely, my little lover. The way you give in to me fills me with irresistible desire. I want to make you mine. To make every part of you succumb to my touch the way you do to my words.”

I closed my eyes, his beguiling words washing over me and leaving a yearning in their wake. He nipped at my ear, and my fingers clutched at his shoulders. “Enver."

“Be mine,” he coaxed, voice dropping into a velvety caress. “Stay with me. Let me possess you, and not a day will pass where you will not know my desire for you.”

Something in the back of my mind gnawed at me, warning me, but Enver’s lips returning to mine made it fade into the background. I gave into him completely, malleable under his touch, lost in the sensations of his touch and kiss. He trailed his lips down to my throat, and I flinched as his lips passed over a sore spot.

The pain confused me for a moment until I remembered Dio had bitten me there.

Enver drew back, and I opened my eyes, seeing him staring at the mark on my neck. “What is this?” he asked.

“Um,” I began, not sure what to say or how to explain that I let a vampire bite me.

His gaze swept down my body to my chest, taking in the torn fabric. Within a split-second, light flooded the room, sconces and lanterns I hadn’t seen in the dark sparking to life. Enver’s expression hardened as he took in the wound on my neck and the blood on my dress. I tried to hide the claw marks on my arm by keeping it looped around his neck, but he leaned back until he straddled my waist, forcing me to release him. His eyes narrowed, and he seized my wrist, bringing my arm closer to him.

“Who did this to you?” he said, his voice unsettlingly steady, given the cold severity of his gaze .

I hesitated, his intensity throwing me. Why did it sound like he cared?

His fingers loosened their grip on my arm. “Tell me,” he said, his tone becoming softer.

“In the labyrinth,” I said. “I ran into Dio, and we were attacked.”

“You ran into Dio?”

“Yes. Can I, um, get up? Then I’ll explain the rest.”

Enver took in my prone form, then nodded, rising to his feet and helping me up off the floor. I smoothed out my dress, taking in its soiled state. Dirt and blood stained most of the bodice, and torn strips of fabric fluttered as my chest rose and fell. “Sorry about the dress,” I apologized, grimacing.

Enver seemed distracted for a moment, his brows slanting together, lips curved down into a frown. “It is true,” he murmured. “Dio completed the labyrinth. That explains this pain. But why were you with him?”

“I’m not sure. I just showed up there,” I explained.

“Strange. That should not happen.”

“I was in Neima’s as well.” I paused. “Has she not completed it yet?”

He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. “No. She has not.”

Hopefully, it was still by her own doing. I didn’t know what it meant for me if she ended up failing. I went to rub a hand over my chest and flinched as I touched one of my wounds.

Enver’s gaze flared with renewed intensity as he stared at my torn dress. “How did you get hurt?”

“Another vampire attacked me.”

Enver’s hand shot out, and shadows formed before us, taking the shape of a door. He immediately stalked toward it.

“Where are you going?” I asked, startled by his abrupt movement.

“I am going to end the life of the one who hurt you. ”

For a second, I was too taken aback to respond. The steadfast determination in his voice had my heart racing. How could he consider killing someone simply because they hurt me? I gathered myself before he stepped through the shadowy corridor, lunging forward and snatching his wrist. “Wait!”

“Do not stop me,” he warned, his voice dropping to a dangerous level.

“He’s already dead,” I said. “Dio killed him.”

Enver stopped, glancing down at me with suspicion in his eyes.

“There’s not even a body,” I continued. “He burned up in the sun. Dio almost did, too, saving me.”

“So, you allowed him to bite you?”

My cheeks heated. “He was dying.”

Enver didn’t look impressed, but then he sighed, the door behind him dissolving into the air. “I suppose I, too, would let myself come near to death if it meant I could be that close to you.”

My heart fluttered, and I lowered my gaze. “Anyway, I think that’s how Dio completed his labyrinth challenge. Getting his revenge on the vampire who turned him.”

“No, it is not that.”

I looked back up at him. “It’s not? How do you know?”

“Revenge is not an emotion in itself. It is an action taken when driven by emotion,” he explained.

“Then how did he complete it?”

“He chose to live,” Enver said. “He embraced his pain instead of letting it consume him.”

I considered that. Neima had also chosen to embrace her pain. “Then what is my labyrinth challenge? Neither Neima’s or Dio’s had anything to do with me. Why was I even there? How do I complete mine?”

Enver shook his head. “I cannot say.”

“Why? ”

“Because you are still in the midst of the labyrinth. I cannot offer you any guidance for your own challenge.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “Can’t? Or won’t?”

“I cannot,” he said. “Unless you would like to remain here with me? Because that would be what awaits you should I help.”

My heart skipped a beat. “I would automatically fail if you helped me?”

“Yes.” He cocked his head to the side, eyes lighting up with mirth. “Hm. Perhaps I should help you after all. You?—”

I stood on my tiptoes to press my hands against his lips to silence him. “That’s okay! I’ll figure it out on my own!”

I could feel him smirk against my fingers. He pulled my hands down. “You are full of contradictions.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I am touching you, I feel as though you might agree to stay here with me. But when I am not, you are still determined to leave.”

I didn’t answer. I knew why. Because with him, in the moments when his caresses made my body burn, I wanted to stay. I couldn’t deny that. I couldn’t get enough of the way he yearned for me. But when the temptation of touch didn’t cloud my mind, reality set right back in. Nothing he felt toward me could be real. Not the desire, not the want, not the need. I had to leave before I lost myself to him.

“The idea of never seeing you again strikes me with a deep ache,” Enver said, pulling me from my thoughts and carefully placing a hand over his chest. “Right here. Why?”

I didn’t want to know the answer to that. Why would he feel pain when thinking about me? To feel pain, he would have to care, wouldn’t he? It had to be a lingering pain from the sadness he’d regained that he mistakenly associated with me—the sorrow that had hurt him so badly.

My chest squeezed at the memory of the tears in his eyes. “ Do you remember what could have caused you to feel so sad?” I asked.

His eyes closed, his fingers digging into his skin like before. “No. Nothing comes to mind. For as long as I can remember, I have been ruling over this labyrinth. Carrying out its demands and remaining distant from those who challenge it.”

A distance that didn’t seem to exist between us. I hesitated before asking my next question. “Could it be from when you lost your heart?”

“This is not a physical pain. It runs deeper than that. I can feel it in the core of my being. As if it has always been there, as if it is a part of me, and I just have not remembered how to feel it until now.”

“Do you remember why you lost your heart?”

Enver shook his head. “No. Perhaps I never had one.”

I doubted that. Not judging by that brutal scar that marred his beautiful skin. Something tore his heart out. Just as something stole his emotions from him. Could it have been the labyrinth itself? He spoke of it as if it was animate, but he also said it was a part of him. And as unsettling as his castle was, it didn’t seem capable of physically injuring someone.

I thought of the shadows that resided within the castle. While terrifying, they’d never harmed me. Sure, they’d dragged me further into the labyrinth, but they had also led me to where I needed to go so far. They hadn’t plunged into my chest and ripped my heart out.

“I should continue the labyrinth,” I said, drawing myself from my thoughts, coming too close to becoming more curious about Enver.

His dark eyes opened, and he brushed his fingers against the tattered neckline of my dress. “Let me clean your wounds first. And perhaps find you something more suitable to wear.”

“Okay,” I agreed. It wouldn’t be wise to turn down first aid. Now that I knew I could get hurt and maybe even die in the labyrinth, I didn’t want to risk infection.

Enver took my hand and led me to the door I had used earlier. As we stepped through, we arrived in his bedroom. I gasped as I took in the sight before me—shattered windows, torn curtains, deteriorated furniture strewn about. The canopy over his bed now hung in shredded, shimmering ribbons.

“What happened?” I asked him, looking at the flickering sconces that fought to stay lit despite being nearly cracked in half.

“I told you I have a connection with the labyrinth. When I am in disarray, it is as well,” he told me, unaffected by the scene.

I didn’t move as he tried to lead me to the bathroom, unable to tear my gaze away from the destruction.

He frowned. “Your distraction, while divine, could only lessen my reaction for so long. The sorrow remains.”

That wasn’t what struck me about the scene in front of us. I knew my kiss couldn’t heal his hurt. But if his sadness destroyed the castle, what did its usual darkness represent? What caused the gloom of his castle’s halls? The stretching shadows that enveloped the timeworn walls, the frayed carpets, and the worn decor. If everything changed because of Enver’s feelings, then how did he normally feel? What caused such melancholy?

He tugged on my hand, and I forced my feet to move, following him into the bathroom. Once luxurious, now dismal. Cracks tore through the tub, the plants dead in their pots. This was how Enver felt inside right now. Broken. Torn apart.

He brought me to the chipped porcelain counter and set me on it. I watched him as he went to the rotten wardrobe in the corner of the room, retrieving a small basket of medical supplies .

His gaze met mine as he walked back over, frowning at whatever he saw on my face. “What is it?”

“Dio reminded me of you,” I said, my throat feeling tight. “When he turned into a vampire, he forgot how to feel.”

Enver tensed. “I see.”

“But when I saw him, I didn’t see a monster. I saw someone forced to become someone they never wanted to be. Someone suffering terribly.”

Enver’s gaze turned hard. “Then I must be quite loathsome to you to deserve such a title.”

“No,” I whispered, grasping onto the edge of the counter. “You’re not.”

He stayed silent, picking up a cloth and turning on the faucet to wet it. Neither of us spoke as he cleaned the blood off my arm, his movements gentle and cautious. He moved to my chest next, pushing aside the dirty scraps of fabric. His eyes remained focused on what he was doing, and mine never left his face.

The perfect curve of his jawline. His rosy lips curved down in concentration, full and kissable. The way the faint glow from the lamps caught on his cheekbones and caused shadows to form under his lashes. His coal-black hair nearly touched his eyebrows as he slanted his head down to inspect my wounds.

I reached out, sliding my fingers through the silky strands, pushing it out of his face.

He made a noise of contentment, as if my touch was everything he wanted, and straightened out. Gripping my thighs, he spread my legs so he could move between them, stepping closer and bringing the cloth up my neck to clean the bite marks Dio left on me. “Seeing this makes me have improper thoughts,” he mused.

My hand detangled from his hair. “Like?”

“Wanting to leave my own marks on you,” he said, his voice dropping lower, deeper. “So anyone who dares to come this close to you again will know you are mine.”

The image of him marking me, sinking his teeth into my neck, leaving love bites all over me, entered my mind. Arousal followed soon after, and I had to fight to keep my voice steady. “I’m not yours, though.”

“Not yet,” he said decidedly, leaning closer to me.

His hips pressed against my lower stomach as he forced me to lean back against the counter, my hands going behind me to keep myself propped up. “You sound so confident.”

His lips pressed against the opposite side of my neck from Dio’s bite. “Because I know you find me hard to resist,” he murmured before scraping his teeth along my throat lightly—an unvoiced question.

One that I answered with a nod.

His teeth sank into my skin, and I had to hold back my moan. It was different from when Dio bit me. Dio’s teeth were sharp and painful. A deadly weapon. But Enver’s were blunt and thrilling. A source of pleasure. Pleasure that shot through me as he nipped and sucked at the spot, determined to leave his imprint on me. I trembled as my head fell back, giving him better access, and he released me, only to move lower and repeat the act.

His fingers gripped my thighs tight, and I adjusted myself, trying to press into him more, a moan escaping me as I felt how much this turned him on, too. I didn’t try to resist my instinct to grind against him. I put my weight on my hands and lifted my hips to move against his erection, closing my eyes and savoring the feeling of his desire for me. His teeth suddenly bit down too hard, making me gasp, pain intertwining with the pleasure. He let go immediately, soothing the spot with a gentle kiss.

And then he moved back completely, breaking all contact. My eyes snapped open, and my ass fell back to the counter without him to use as leverage. “What’s wrong? ”

“I am supposed to be cleaning your wounds. Not this,” he said, although his arousal strained at the fabric of his trousers. “I am only creating more work for myself.”

I took a steadying breath, my neck throbbing from his attention. I wanted to pull him to me again, but the distance he put between us cooled down my need enough for me to think straight again. “Right.”

We fell silent as he brought the cloth back to my neck, keeping a healthy space between our bodies. After finishing with the cloth, he washed his hands and then picked up a glass jar of something that emitted an herbal and medicinal scent as he opened it. He scooped it onto his finger and applied it to my now clean wounds. I expected it to hurt like disinfectant, but it didn’t, only producing a cooling sensation. After treating all the injuries on me, he also rubbed some over the fresh marks he’d left on me.

“There,” he said, cleaning off his hands again and putting everything back into the basket. “Now, let us find you a new dress.”

He cupped my waist as he helped me down from the counter. I looked down at the dress I was currently wearing and frowned. Aside from that first strange feeling I’d had when I put it on, which still lingered, it hadn’t been the best thing to wear while fighting for my life. What if I ended up in danger again? “Could I actually have a pair of pants? And a shirt?” I requested.

Enver raised an eyebrow. “You want clothing meant for a man?”

“Clothing doesn’t have genders,” I said, frowning. “I just want to wear something comfortable.”

“It will have to be mine.” His gaze raked down my body, then dropped to his own, the difference in size obvious. He stood over a head taller than me. “I will find something that will fit you. ”

We went back into his bedroom, and I followed Enver to his clothing wardrobe. Inside, though, mostly held dresses. Each floor-length and beautiful, but forgotten. Dust covered their hangers, not a fingerprint in sight. Curiosity bit at me, but I held it back. He reached to the shelves above the dresses, pulling down a thin, long-sleeved shirt. He unfolded it and turned to hold it against my torso. It hung to my mid-thighs, but I still took it from him.

“Can you turn around?” I requested.

“I have seen you naked before. I have tasted everywhere you feel shy to expose to me?—”

“Just turn around!” I said, flushing. “Please.”

Enver smirked but started digging through the closet again, putting his back to me. I quickly slipped out of the dress, letting it slide to the floor, and then pulled on the shirt. The sleeves went far past my wrist, but I folded them up, happy to be in something that wasn’t a dress for the first time in days. I’d never been a dress person, anyway. I only wore them to make Julian happy.

I bit my lip, looking at the ground. What was Julian up to now? Was it possible he hadn’t realized I was missing yet? Or maybe he had and was searching for me now. Maybe it scared him into realizing he had genuine feelings for me. And maybe my disappearance made Veronica realize a man wasn’t worth losing her sister over. If I never returned, would they miss me? Would they look for me for decades like Luliana had looked for Dio?

No , a cruel voice answered for me—my own. I knew the truth and couldn’t pretend otherwise. If anything, they’d be happy I disappeared. So that they could be together without feeling any guilt. If they even felt anything to begin with. They would forget about me and have their happily ever after. And I…

“Oh, my little lover,” Enver murmured, lifting my chin up with his finger so I faced him. “Do not let your thoughts of him consume you.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking of?”

His finger trailed down my neck to my breast, just over my heart. “I can feel your desperation, remember?”

“I’m not desperate,” I said, although my chest constricted.

“You cannot lie to me,” he responded, eyes locking onto mine. “While your desperation only whispered to me before, it resonates within me now. It is so closely tied to your sorrow.”

“I just…” I shook my head. “Never mind. I’m fine.”

Enver’s finger traced back up to the hollow of my throat, then up to the aching marks he’d left on my neck. “There it is. Your despair. Shall I distract you?”

“No,” I said quickly, falling back a step, away from his touch. “If you kiss me again, then I don’t know if I can stop myself from taking things further.”

His gaze darkened with desire. “Oh?”

My cheeks flushed. Why had I said that?

“Then perhaps I should kiss you,” he said, advancing toward me.

“No,” I repeated, my words firmer than my resolve, though if he tried to kiss me, I wouldn’t stop him. “I need to continue the labyrinth.”

He hummed his disagreement but faced the wardrobe again, retrieving a pair of linen pants. He held them out, and I kicked my shoes off before slipping the pants on. I was surprised they fit much better than his shirt did. Then I considered his narrow waist and wondered how I’d even got them over my hips. I tucked in the oversized shirt, relating it to his broad shoulders.

“You look endearing with my clothing on,” he said. “But now I want to take everything off you.”

“You’re insatiable.”

“You are irresistible,” he countered in a murmur that sent my pulse racing. “But fear not. I will resist the urge to touch you. For now. I am quite an accommodating enemy of yours, no?”

Enemy . I’d said it so confidently before, yet given right into him when he kissed me. I had no self-control.

I put my shoes back on, the wound on my chest stinging as I bent over, scrunching the skin there. I paused. “Wait, how is telling me about Dio’s labyrinth not helping me?” I asked as I straightened out. “Why did that not make me fail?”

“I wonder that myself,” Enver responded.

A chill ran through me. “You didn’t know if it would cause me to fail or not when you told me?”

“No,” he answered nonchalantly.

My stomach dropped, and I stared at him. His expression was calm, and his posture relaxed. He didn’t see the issue with what he’d just revealed.

Because he couldn’t see it.

My hands trembled. “I’m going now.”

He nodded and gestured to the wall beside us, where shadows climbed up to form a doorway. “Be careful. I do not want to see you hurt again.”

No, you don’t care what happens to me, I thought as I moved toward the portal. Y ou can’t care what happens to me .

Enver couldn’t care about me. Something I needed to remind myself of constantly. He was not a good man. I paused before I entered the shadows, glancing back at him one last time.

Hurt laced his features. Crumpled his forehead, drew his mouth down, and gave a depth to his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

Hurt I knew was real because he could feel sadness now.

It was then I realized I’d accidentally said my thoughts out loud. But before I could say anything else, the shadows swallowed me whole.