Page 106 of Emperor of Havoc

I can’t listen anymore.

I take an unsteady step back. Then another. My foot brushes the edge of a table, the slight noise making me freeze.

Takeshi’s head tilts, his body tensing slightly, sensing something.

I don’t wait to see if he turns around. I spin and bolt back toward the bedroom, my heart hammering so loudly in my chest I can barely hear my own footsteps.

I have to get out of here.

The thought repeats in my mind on a loop, drowning out everything else. He’s been using me. All his protectiveness, the way he made me feel safe…

It’s all a lie, wrapped up in silk.

I reach the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind me as I collapse against it. My breath comes in ragged gasps as my vision blurs with tears.

How thefuckcould I have been so stupid? He’s the enemy. He’salwaysbeen the enemy.

And I let him in: inside this house, this empire.

…Insideme: heart, body and soul.

I press my hand to my chest, as if I can physically hold the broken pieces together. My mind spins: was any of it real? The way he held me? Looked at me?

My stomach churns, bile rising in my throat as his words echo in my head:Use her to get inside the Ishida-kai.

I have to get the fuck out of here.

I throw some clothes on with trembling hands. My body feels cold, a chill seeping into my bones that no amount of layers will fix.

I grab a bag, hurriedly shoving a few essentials inside, my mind screaming at me to move faster. Every second feels like an eternity, and I half-expect the door to burst open at any moment and for Takeshi to be standing there.

It doesn’t.

I throw the bag over my shoulder and glance at the bed one last time. The duvet is balled up on it, a silent reminder of the warmth and the safety I thought he gave me.

A sob bubbles behind my lips as I turn and run, the walls closing in on me as I move quickly through the halls. My feet are silent on the floor, my body tense as I listen for any sign of him.

For a second, I almost go to the guards that I know are posted all over the house. But then I realize with a horrible jarring sensation that I don’t actually know who I can trust now. Takeshi’s been here for weeks, smiling, making friends…

Forming alliances.

I have no idea if “my men” are even “mine” anymore.

Maybe they’rehisnow.

I double back through the house. For a second, I pause, my heart beating faster when I spy Nina reading in the library, with Furrcules curled up beside her. I almost go to her, to tell her about the poison inside our house.

Except just then, one of the guards—a younger guy named Nagao—walks into the room. He nods at her, and they start to talk.

My blood runs cold. IknowI’ve seen Nagao hanging out with Takeshi before—shooting the shit, cracking jokes.

Nina will have to wait.

I slip quietly into the kitchen. At the back of the pantry, there’s a shelf that swings out, leading to an old, waist-high metal door in the wall to receive firewood deliveries back in the day.

Historically, this is how I’ve snuck out of this house. Tonight, I’m using it again.

The old metal whines in protest, but I get it open it anyway, hoisting myself through and into the night.

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