Page 75 of Enemy of the State

As we come down from our highs, Lou slides a hand up my chest, resting over my hammering heart, her dark eyes full of sincerity as she whispers against my lips. “There’s a darkness inside you, Sean Diggory, and I’m going to dance within it.”

My gaze roves over her beautiful face before I knit our lips together again, like two links in a chain being permanently connected.

When we come up for air, I drop my forehead to hers, palming her soft cheek. “To Russia,” I repeat her words quietly, hoping to sound surer than I am, begging the ice flooding my veins to go undetected, even as my mouth goes dry. I swallow, attempting to make the hard lump in my throat disappear.

I knew this was going to happen. I talked it through with Jace at length when we were plotting a way to help Louhi escape. I knew what I was giving up. But you can know something is coming, prepare for it even, and the stark reality still manages to slap you in the face.

Right now, the gravity of my decisions clamps down around my chest, weighing a thousand tons.

I’ve deserted my life, my career, my friends, my family. I’m atraitor.

And I’ve done it all for the woman in front of me.

TO BE CONTINUED