Page 4 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

“Same one?” was all he asked.

Emara nodded, starting to calm against him, his heat travelling to her, warming her once more.

The trauma of the Uplift and the loss of her best friend had utterly destroyed her. So much so that she couldn’t even find solace in sleep. That elite bastard had destroyed that for her too.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” Torin whispered, knowing it wasn’t true. Although Taymir couldn’t physically harm her anymore, she would never mentally get over what he had done to her. To her best friend. No one should witness someone they love having their heart ripped from their chest.

She looked up at him—without rage or anger—through lashes thick with tears. His heart almost stopped all together. Nothing but unimaginable sorrow lay within her deep black eyes, and he tensed again, not knowing how much longer he would be able to look at her like this. A dull ache in his chest reminded him of how truly helpless he felt.

Quickly, he placed the feelings of helplessness into a suppressed section in his mind and filled the void with fury. Always fury. He wanted to end anyone who gave aid to this. Anyone who played a part in this would pay for it, terribly. And Torin Blacksteel vowed that his face would be the last one they saw as they took their final breath.

He stopped his hands from scrunching into fists in front of her.

Sniffling slightly, she rolled onto her back, moving away from his arms. He instantly felt the need to pull her back in again and cradle her.

Strange.

Where she had lay on him was now cold. Empty. And he felt the first of the winter’s freeze where she should have been.

Abruptly, Emara sat up fully, her nest of black hair waving and tangling down her back. Even in her hollow state, there was something agonisingly beautiful about her. Something that he had never appreciated in a woman before now.

Even if they were just friends.

His throat bobbed as he watched her. “Are you okay?”

He knew it was a stupid question, but he couldn’t stop himself from speaking.

“Even though I sleep continuously, I am exhausted.”

Her voice was so bleak that Torin shuddered.

Emara wrapped her arms around her legs, cradling her knees, and rested her chin on her arm. “Can you stay here until I fall asleep?”

Her voice was so tender and weak. It almost broke him. She hadn’t really spoken at all since the Uplift, mostly just incoherent sobs, so to actually hear her voice again caught him off guard.

He gave himself an internal shake before answering.

“Sure,” he replied, “I am not going to be falling asleep anytime soon.”

She finally looked over her shoulder at him, the skin at her back exposed from the night garment his mother had dressed her in, revealing a little bruising. Even though she had fought so fearlessly, she had been hurt. Slammed across the room.

His fists tightened again, thinking of her screams, the noise she had made as she hit the marble ground as the winged demon had batted her across the room. His eyes had always been on her as he’d fought his way through the crowd to get to her.

The gown she had worn to the ball was completely destroyed, so she now wore a plain beige nightgown, borrowed from his mother. As she faced him, her eyes explored his face underneath the dim light of the moon.

But she didn’t speak.

Torin swallowed, his heart rate accelerating.

When she slowly lay back down against her pillow, her hair swarming her face, he let out a long breath. Even though she had slept for the best part of five days, she looked depleted. The blotches on her face from crying were trying their best to settle into her skin, and she looked pale—so much paler than usual. Her glow was gone.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” Torin asked, his voice sounding croakier than before.

She shook her head against the pillow.

“There must be something.” He tried to let a smile warm his face, but he knew it wasn’t going to work. His face never could hide when he was angry or upset. Or feeling murderous.

“A little wine? Cheese and biscuits? I know it’s late, but you can't beat a midnight snack. Especially when it involves wine.”

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