Page 71 of Dark Reign

My lids slammed shut when he finally said the words. Hearing them spoken out loud made it real, and I didn’twantit to be real.

Julian would never understand the devastation, but this thing he’d done was worse than death. In an instant, every hope I had of escaping and my life miraculously going back to what it was before, had just been snatched from beneath me. There was no longer any chance of being welcomed back into my world, because … I was now a part of his.

“How long?” I asked, my voice quivering with every syllable. “How long until the transition is complete?”

With his arm still locked around me, with my body slowly leaning into his, as sadness set in, he answered.

“Sixty days.”

And there it was, the countdown had begun.

The silence crept in again and I felt the exact moment Julian’s grip loosened.

“I understand you’re upset and probably want nothing to do with me, but I insisted on being here when you woke up,” he shared, standing to his full height. “Telling you myself felt like the right thing to do.”

My gaze lifted when his height stretched above me. He took steps toward the door and that stupid feeling ravished me again. The one that made me enjoy being held by him a moment ago, the one that left me with an odd memory of what had never happened.

A kiss.

I could feel it even with so much distance between us—his mouth pressed to mine. It was this very feeling that made me need him despite still having so many thoughts and emotions taking over me.

“Wait.”

At the sound of my voice, he stopped, glancing over his toned shoulder to level a look toward me.

“Yes?”

I panted wildly, as I fought the overwhelming and strange urge to run to him, to forget all about only having eight weeks of humanity left. I didn’t give into it. Instead, I spoke words to him I never imagined I’d ever speak.

“Thank you, for …savingme,” I clarified. “I can’t imagine that was an easy decision.”

The hard look set in his eyes, softened almost instantly. Right after, a faint smile graced his lips. “Of course.”

This time, when he turned to leave, I didn’t stop him. I was alone, just me and my thoughts.

Brokenhearted and hopeless, I sank beneath the covers and clutched them to my chin. This was as bad as it could get. I’d reached rock bottom, but, for some reason, I couldn’t find it within me to be angry with the one responsible for taking me there.

I faced the wall, wondering what this meant for my future. It was then that a silver clutch resting on the bedside table caught my eye. My fingers went to the smooth satin and I brought it to me, suddenly feeling like the contents were pointless to have.

My bracelet … in the coming days, the venom Julian used to heal me would heal me of everything, including the condition I’d lived with for life.

My com … I couldn’t face my team with this news, couldn’t break their hearts by telling them what had become of me.

With my emotions running so high, I’d forgotten a major piece of this puzzle. Julian hadn’t even brought up what the repercussions would be forhim. Turning a human was forbidden. So many times in so few days, he’d broken the rules on my behalf, each time to save me.

I’d been nothing but trouble to him, and yet this time … he’d committed a crime that was punishable by death.

Don’t be dramatic, Cori. I’m sure he wouldn’t have done this if that rule applied to him.

… Right?

His father had more authority than anyone in the entire Dynasty. While I was certain this offense wouldn’t show favorably for an emperor-to-be, he must have already figured a way out of it.

That was the only explanation I had.

It was strange to think that I, both, owed him my lifeandblamed him for having taken it away in a very different way.

Still, through it all I saw his heart, and this was just so unlike me.

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