Page 126 of Emperor of Lust

Then a silhouette stumbles from the stairwell, tall, fierce in his stride.

Silvery hair.

Sharp, beautiful, violet eyes.

Damian.

I feel an almost overwhelming urge to cry out, but it knots up inside my throat. He stares at me, frozen for a second, before relief crashes over him, lighting up his face. Then he moves forward, inching to the edge of the broken floor, stopping just short.

"Hana," he breathes, and the sound of my name on his lips is everything.

I fight back the flood of tears, swallowing hard. “Damian!” I finally blurt. “I didn’t mean a word of it!! Miyamoto?—”

“I know, Kitsune,” he chokes, his voice tight as his purple eyes blaze through the darkness to stab into me. “I know. Fuck, Hana, I never, ever should have doubted?—”

“It’s what he told me to do,” I choke. “Make you believe that I’d betrayed you. He—he?—”

My voice chokes off as the emotions tangle around my throat. Damian just shakes his head and moves to the edge again.

“I’m going to get you off there,” he growls. He glances over at the girl, his brow furrowing as if he’s just noticed her.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asks.

“She doesn’t talk,” I say quickly. “Or—she can’t, I don’t know. I also don’t know who she is.”

Damian’s jaw is tight as he peers at the girl. “She’s important to Kolya,” he growls quietly.

He turns, his eyes dragging over the board, the way the girl and I are balanced, and then back to me, new urgency in his gaze. “We don’t have much time. There’s a tracker on my ankle. Kolya’smen will be here soon, and when they arrive, this all getswaymore complicated.”

He turns and scans the piece of intact flooring he’s standing on. His gaze lands on a length of rope coiled by the stairs, the same stuff binding the girl and me. He grabs it, deftly looping and tying it into a makeshift lasso.

He walks to the beam and steps onto it, jaw working as he finds his balance above the abyss. He looks at me, his eyes blazing with wild intensity before his gaze shifts to the girl.

“I’m not letting you fall,” he promises her, his voice like iron.

She glares at him, skeptical. But he moves carefully, still holding the rope, taking steady steps across the beam to the middle, right next to the plank laid across it.

“Hold still,” he murmurs, tossing the rope at her chair. It falls short, and he pulls it back, trying again. Another miss. His face hardens, his jaw clenched as he tries once more. This time it lands over her chair, and he pulls it tight. The girl gasps as the chair scoots a little on the wood beneath her.

Damian nods as he loops the rope twice around his waist, then makes a slip knot with it, like a rock climbing belayer. He looks at me, tossing me the other end of the rope.

“Tie it to yourself,” he says.

I nod quickly, shaking as I stand carefully. I loop the rope around my waist, tying it tightly and turning to him, my face paling.

“Now, you need to walk toward me, one step at a time.”

The other girl whistles sharply, yanking our attention to her as her eyes narrow sharply.

“I’mnotgoing to let you fall,” Damian growls, voice fierce and unyielding. “Well… you’ll fall a little, but I promise I’ll catch you.”

She swallows, her face turning white as the abyss yawns below her. She looks at Damian, clearly sizing him up. When her gaze slips to me, I give her a small smile.

“He really will. You can trust him,” I say.

She grimaces, but she gives a reluctant nod.

I take the rope and inch forward. Every muscle is coiled tight, and I swear I can feel every single heartbeat echo in my veins. The board shifts, dipping ominously as I creep toward Damian.

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