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I had the power to ruin him, yes

But in the process, I would also destroy myself

Chapter One

I CARRIED HER FROM the VR Rooently as I dared

I tripped under her weight, ed from the punishment I’d delivered while Eleanor was in Euphoria My heart barely had enough energy to pus burned with lactic acid,molecule

But fuck, it orth it

Worth it to feel sohtmarish confusion of the past week Worth it to finally find caloddess had caused

I looked at Eleanor, fast asleep and limp in my arms Her lips were parted and still red froasic of what she’d indulged in

Euphoria had the power to break you apart, but it also had the potential to make you rise from the ashes that you once were Whatever parts were destroyed while she played in the fantasy, coded and delivered by yours truly, I had no doubt she’d awake stronger, bolder, and far erous than before

My fingers dug into her silky skin, pressing her close

Fuck, I was in trouble

I knew that

But for the first time…I owned it

I’d made yet another colossal mistake…and this one, I honestly didn’t know if I could survive

“Who are you?” I whispered in the darkness, ignoring the treer in ed to rest To place Eleanor on the sandy pathway and curl up beside her

To sleep after surviving a night we’d both never forget…for entirely different reasons

Stu stitch in my stomach I’d overdone it I’d drained myself to the point of sickness I needed rest She needed rest

But…just for a le, stupid moment—with no one around and no one to witness, I stopped, let down irl who’d twisted irl who I still didn’t knohat to do with Could I keep her on my shores for four years? Could I rent her out to th to keep o were sloaking up?

It wasn’t just her beauty that arrested me It wasn’t just her te I couldn’t explain bound us together, drawing us closer, against our will…creating a minefield of destruction

Her forehead furrowed a little as whatever dreahosted over her face She shifted indeeper into my chest

And fuck if my heart didn’t kick with an extra beat

Tighteningbare feet into soft sand, forcing a body that had well and truly been abused to keep going, for just a little while