Chapter 30
The creaking of footsteps roused Eva from sleep and her eyes fluttered open. Henry appeared before her like a ghost. His eyes reflected the dim glow of the moon like two deep pools. He crouched, brought a finger to her face and brushed the apple of her cheek.
At the touch, she jolted fully awake.
He recoiled. “It is you.”
Her heart hammered. She blinked a few times, wondering if she were still dreaming, but the realization that she was awake came hard as she observed his mangled face in horror.
Splotches of bruising marked his eye and jaw. His full lower lip had been split in two. A darkness clouded the ivory white of his left eye, making the blueness of his iris appear black.
“You look at me as if I were a monster,” he whispered.
She opened her mouth but could find no words. She rose slowly from the sofa and approached him.
He stepped back as if her presence burned him.
“Henry?” Her voice caught in her throat.
“Why have you come here?” he said.
“To help you,” she said.
“Why did you not return to your world?”
“I couldn’t…”
“Does it not work?” he said. “Does the bloody thing not work again?”
“Please, don’t,” she whispered.
With a guarded expression, he looked her up and down. Where had all the kindness in his eyes gone? Why did he stare at her like she was a stranger?
“Why have you not heeded to my request?” he said with more force.
“Your request?” Eva said, finding the courage to speak. “Because your request was ridiculous and downright insulting.”
“It is in your best interest.”
“My best interest is not leaving you without making sure you were okay. How could you ask me to do that? Jesus, Henry, I could never live with myself.”
“Well”—he raised his arms—“here I am. Alive and well. My promise to you has been fulfilled and now I ask that you go.”
He may as well have punched her in the gut.
“Go,” he repeated.
“Why?”
“Take the device and leave this place at once.”
She moved closer. “Stop being an asshole. I know something is up with you and your father. I know that—”
“Eva—”
“No matter what you tell me, I know you’re lying.” She curled her fingers around his lapels. “I know you’re doing everything possible to push me away because you’re deathly afraid of something. You’re hurting and I want to help you.”
He ripped her hands from his jacket. “There is nothing left for you here. Go home.”
“You are here.”
“What we shared was only lust,” he said hoarsely.
She laughed. It sounded hollow and cold. “You’re a bad liar, Henry Asheford.”
“Believe what you will,” he said flatly. “But do not pretend our relationship was not destined to end like this.”
A whirlwind of anger swept through her. “Fine … if this is how you want to play the game, then fine. Look me in the eye and say that you never loved me.”
He held her glare.
The ticking of the clock became cruelly apparent.
The sound infuriated her.
“Say it, you coward!” she shouted.
He flinched and shut his eyes as if gathering his thoughts.
But she wouldn’t let him. If he wanted to play this game, he had to deal with the consequences. With a huff, she picked up the black satin pouch from the sofa and pulled out the device. Her heart raced as she held it to the level of his eye. “If this is how you want to end things, by all means, I’m game to pretend that our relationship was bullshit.”
She opened the wooden lid of the device. A flash of blue light illuminated the room, radiating from the depths of the mahogany box. The living room was painted in a billion twinkling stars. Between them, a small galaxy of light twirled.
Her breath halted.
Holy shit, so this is how the device looks when it is powered.
Determined to make a show, she took a deep breath, straightened her spine and pressed her thumb against the Breguet key. A faint electrical pulse tingled her palm.
“It’s set to my time. Say the words and I will go,” she said. “I will turn the key and vanish before your eyes, believing that you never truly loved me. If it’s your wish that I spend the rest of my days thinking that what we had was nothing more than lust, then I will accept it because that’s what you do for the people you love, isn’t it?” Her tears were flowing. “You sometimes have to do things you don’t want to in order to keep your loved ones happy, to keep them safe—”
He came to her in one swift step.
She found herself buried in his arms and she desperately grabbed onto anything she could – his shirt, his shoulder, his torso…
He winced.
“Henry…” she said. “Henry, what have you done to yourself?”
“It matters not.”
“Of course it matters.” She gently reached for his face. “And you’re not a monster … how could you ever be a monster?”
He brought his forehead to hers. While brushing her hair behind her ears, he planted a kiss on her nose before wrapping his fingers around her hand that held the wooden box.
“You are entirely right. You sometimes have to do things you do not want to keep your loved ones safe.” His voice was ragged and full of raw emotion. “It’s time to go home, Eva.”
She pressed her free palm to his pounding heart. “It doesn’t have to be like this. You and Lottie can start a new life away from your father, away from all this crime and manipulation.”
“I cannot.”
“Then come with me,” she said.
He scowled. “And leave Lottie?”
“She can join us.”
“Have you forgotten that the device struggles taking more than one human across the threshold of time? I will not risk it with three.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “Turn the key before I force you to.”
“No.”
“Turn it,” he growled.
“Whatever your father has on you, we can figure this out together, we can—”
“Christ, Eva, stop this at once!”
She knew her insistence was getting him angry. Between his darkening expression, trembling hands and difficulty speaking, there was a rabid desperation circulating through his veins and that’s exactly what she wanted. Maybe if she pushed him with her stubbornness until he broke, she could pick up the pieces and mend him back together.
“I’m not leaving until I see you’re safe,” she said.
“Turn it.”
“I said no!”
“You stubborn imp,” he growled. He grasped her wrist and pushed her against the wall. “Turn the blasted key!”
Her ears rang with the rush of blood. She brought her hand to his chest and quickly placed a knee between his legs in case things got more physical. She never thought in a million years that he would become violent toward her. And although he had not physically harmed her, the threat of it vibrated through his muscles. She supposed that when an abused animal had been caged for too long, it would eventually lash out. Humans were no different.
They caught one another’s gaze.
“You’re a bastard,” she sneered.
Despite all the anger, she still wanted to take him in her arms. To kiss his bruises and cuts and whisper that everything would be all right.
Remorse flashed in his expression. He released her wrist. “Why will you not listen?” he whimpered. “After everything I’ve done for you … after everything we’ve shared…”
“How many times do I have to say it?” Her voice cracked. “I love you too damned much to leave you like this.”
He cupped her face in his warm palms. Tears rolled down his cheeks and landed on her forearm. He kissed her.
It was hard, distant, and it hit her heart like a razor-sharp knife.
His lips left hers. “I am leaving you.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“It does.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.”
She reached for his face, but he jerked away.
A rush of cold air came between them.
“Do what you will,” he said. “I am well aware that you were never any good at heeding demands, hence why I am forced to say that if you decide to chase after me, so help me God, I will personally deliver you to my father. This madness must end.”
His words made her struggle for her next breath.
“Leave this world,” he said. “There isn’t anything left for you here.”
Without another word or look, he hurried out of the room. Seconds later, the front door of the house slammed shut.