Page 128 of Emperor of Havoc

But I’ve never wanted it back more than I do right now.

The moonlight filters weakly through the hedges, casting eerie shadows that dance along the narrow paths. I rush forward as I hear him call my name again, closer this time.

Reallyclose.

Hope explodes in my chest as I bolt forward, lurching toward the direction of his voice.

“KAT!” He roars again. “KAT, I’m here!”

He’s so close he must be just around the next corner; that thought alone propels me on. I swerve left, my heart leaping at the idea of finally seeing him?—

A hand clamps over my mouth.

A silent scream lodges in my throat, muffled by the iron grip of Jin’s hand. His other arm snakes around my waist, pinning me to him as he yanks me off my feet. My legs flail uselessly, my breath coming in frantic, panicky gasps.

“Thereyou are, my love,” Jin growls, his voice darkly possessive. “You’re safe now.”

Fear explodes through my body in icy waves as he carries me, his steps steady and deliberate. I thrash against him, kicking the air, clawing at his arms, but his grip is unyielding, and his strength unnerving.

Jin turns a corner, emerging into the clearing I saw before with the crumbling fountain at its center, the cherub atop it eerily frozen in mid-laugh. Dead rose bushes coil around the base of the column like skeletal, thorny fingers.

Jin carries me across the clearing and stops at a low hedge, setting me down with a gentleness that feels grotesque given the situation.

“You’ll be safe here, my love,” he murmurs, pulling out a length of rope and swiftly binding my wrists with practiced, efficient movement, as if he’s done this before. “Let me take care of the monsters for you.”

I struggle against the ropes, watching him knot them tightly, my heart racing.No, I scream in my mind, tears burning my eyes.Takeshi is here. My father is here. I have to get to them.

Jin finishes tying my wrists and then knotting the free end around a crumbling stone bench. He steps back, as if admiring his handiwork.

“You’ve always been so beautiful, Marianna,” he whispers, his voice softening as he brushes a strand of hair out of my face. I flinch, nausea churning in my stomach. “I won’t let anyone take you from me this time, I swear.”

He stands abruptly, his gaze hardening as he looks toward the maze. “I’ll deal with them,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “Then I'll be back.”

As he strides away, panic crashes over me in a tidal wave as I twist and pull against the ropes. The rough twine bites into my skin, but I don’t care. I have to get free.

Have to find Takeshi. Have to?—

“KAT!”

Takeshi’s voice is so close that it stops Jin mid-stride as he marches away from me. My heart races as the madman turns, his head tipped, as if he’s listening, gauging direction.

“KATARINA!” Takeshi roars again, even closer.

Suddenly, through the gaps in the low hedge, I see Takeshi step from the shadows. His broad shoulders are tense, a grim, cold expression on his beautifully vicious face. But just as my heart lurches and soars in hope, it suddenly crashes to the ground as horror claws into me.

Because that’s when I see Jin.

He’s moving toward Takeshi, his footsteps noiseless as he comes up behind him.

No.

No.

NO.

The ropes bite into my wrists, turning the skin raw as I twist and pull against them. Every fiber of my being screams to move, to act, but I can’t. I’m trapped here behind the hedge while the man I love isright in front of me, heedless of the jaws of a monster about to snap shut on him.

I watch as Takeshi’s shoulders tense, the moonlight cutting sharp angles across his face, his dark eyes scanning the clearing for danger. He doesn’t hear Jin. He doesn’t see the shadow creeping up behind him, silent and patient, a blade glinting in its hand.

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