Page 342 of Legacy
Her knuckles are white, her shoulders trembling, but she grips it.
She lifts her head.
And for the first time since I stepped into this hell, I see it.
That fire.
That spine of steel buried under the terror.
She isn’t broken.
She isn’t going to break.
Not for him.
Not for this.
And that’s what scares me most.
Because I know her.
I know what she’s thinking.
She’s going to deviate. I see it in the way her eyes flick, measuring the space, the distance to Karekin’s throat.
She’s going to try to take him out.
And they’ll kill her for it.
Me for her.
Always.
I take a step forward, slow, deliberate, my voice low, steady, meant only for her.
“Scarlet.”
Her head jerks, eyes locking on mine.
Those eyes.
Wide. Shaking. Alive.
Fighting.
God, I could drown in them.
Right now, they’re looking at me like she knows.
Like she knows this is goodbye.
Her lip trembles, her eyes glinting with tears she refuses to let fall. “I told you not to come,” she whispers, voice cracking. “I told you—”
My throat knots. “I had to.”
Her chin lifts, defiance slicing through her fear, and she spits at Karekin’s feet. “I’m not going to shoot him,” she snarls, eyes burning. “You’ll have to kill me.”
Karekin laughs, low and venomous. “Oh, I will. But not before I taste you first, little bitch.”
