Page 55 of Echos and Empires
It was only when Emma’s gentle touch was on his arm that he snapped back to himself, the red haze receding, realizing she’d come out faster than expected and without any noise making him worry she hadn’t protected herself.
He turned to her, seeing the concern and the fear she couldn’t quite hide.
“We need to be more careful,” he said, his voice rough with suppressed emotion. “Especially where you’re concerned. Darius...Victor...they won’t hesitate to use you against me if they suspect anything.”
Emma nodded, her jaw set with determination even as her eyes glistened. “I know. And I am being careful. But Chris...you need to be careful too. I can’t...I can’t lose you.”
The words hit him like a punch to the gut, the fear and the love in them tearing at his heart. He pulled her close, wrappingher in his arms as if he could shield her from the world through sheer force of will.
“You won’t,” he promised, the words fierce with conviction. “We’re going to get through this, Emma. All of us. I swear it.”
But even as he said it, he could feel the walls closing in, the net tightening around them. He had played this game for so long, worn so many masks. But now, with Emma in the crosshairs and their child’s life hanging in the balance, the stakes had never been higher.
And for the first time, Chris wasn’t sure he could keep up the charade without losing everything he held dear in the process.
“Come on then, outside. We need to chat.” he guided her toward the doors, his heart damn near not beating as he worried she wasn’t herself.
Chris scrubbed a hand over his face, the exhaustion of the past few hours, the past few weeks, pressing down on him like a physical weight. “Emma, what happened in the back room?”
“This time nothing. They tried to convince me again that my children will have the best care. When I spit on the nurse, she threatened to kill me if I didn’t come around before the birth. She went to needle me and I got her first, leaving her sitting on the ground before coming out to find you and that man.”
His sigh of relief nearly left his knees weak as he pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. “Thank fuck.”
“Chris, who was that man? Why were you so pissed off?”
“Darius. Victor’s personal security. Someone I hated since I met him when he got here, long before realizing what his job actually was. He was fishing just now,” he said finally, his voice rough. “Trying to see if he could rattle me, get me to give something away.” He looked down at her.
Emma’s eyes widened, fear and understanding warring in their depths. “And did you? Give something away?”
“No,” Chris said firmly, meeting her gaze. “I didn’t. And I won’t. But Emma...you need to understand how dangerous this is getting. If Darius is watching me, if he’s paying attention to where we go and who we see.”
Emma hugged her arms across her chest, as if trying to physically hold herself together.
“I do understand,” she whispered. “That’s what terrifies me. Chris, if something happens to you...”
She broke off, a single tear escaping to track down her cheek. Chris reached for her, pulling her into his arms and holding on tight. “Nothing is going to happen to me,” he murmured into her hair. “I promise.” He repeated.
But even as he said it, he could taste the lie on his tongue. Because he couldn’t promise that, not really. Not with the path he’d chosen, the war he’d committed to fighting.
He thought of his brothers, lost in the first days of the apocalypse. The way they’d looked to him for guidance, for protection. And how in the end, he’d failed them.
He wouldn’t fail again. Not with Emma, not with their child. He would do whatever it took to keep them safe, to build a world where they could thrive. No matter the cost.
As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Emma pulled back, her eyes searching his face. “You can’t do this alone,” she said softly. “I know you want to protect me, to keep me out of it. But I’m in this fight, too, Chris. I have to be.”
Chris started to shake his head, to argue, but Emma cut him off with a fierce look.
“No,” she said, steel beneath the tremor in her voice. “This is my life, my future, too. Our future. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit on the sidelines and watch you risk everything without doing my part.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, the air heavy with all the things unsaid. Finally, Chris sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “Okay. But we do this smart, and we do it carefully. No unnecessary risks, not for any of us. Agreed?”
Emma nodded, a tiny, tremulous smile touching her lips. “Agreed.”
They came together again, holding on like they were the only solid things in a world turned to quicksand. Chris closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of her, trying to imprint this moment in his memory.
Because he knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that there would come a time when moments like these would be all they had. When the fight would consume every waking hour, every ounce of strength and will.
