Page 1 of While He Breathes

PROLOGUE

EMBER

They say a near-death experience changes you, and perhaps there’s some truth in those words.

The first time I almost died, I became a weaker version of myself. I lost everything in that accident, and somewhere along the way, I lost myself.

But the second time? The second time I found exactly who I’m supposed to be.

And I’m ready to enter my villain era.

CHAPTER ONE

ORION

Time moves in a blur of blood and panic.

Hitting the distress button beneath the sink.

Killian rushing in and taking Ember’s too-cold body from my arms.

The drive to the hospital.

The sterile waiting room where every eye remained on me the whole time.

The doctors telling me my little flame’s blood loss was critical.

The wait.

Fuck, the wait.

It feels like an eternity since I woke Ember from her nightmare, since I watched as recognition filled her mesmerizing sapphire gaze. Since she realized I’m the monster that goes bump in the night, the one that tore her only family from her.

I drop my head into my hands, doing everything I can to ignore the spectators. I’m sure I’m quite the sight. Dressed in lounge pants and a bloodstained white shirt. Crimson coats my arms, my chest, and probably my face, given how often I’ve sat in this very position. Add that to the fact I’m a well-knownentrepreneur in Los Angeles, and I’m certain there will be gossip articles on the internet any minute now.

But I don’t give a fuck about any of that. All I care about is the woman I love.

Ember is everything.

My heart.

My soul.

My fucking life.

And I would walk away from everything right now if it meant saving her.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do if it meant her heart kept beating.

A water bottle is held in front of me, and I take it without argument. Killian hasn’t left my side since we arrived. He’s spoken to the doctors when I haven’t been able to think past the blood that covers me. He’s checked in with the nurses, and he’s moved on the few people who thought it was appropriate to try to speak to me when I’m very obviously going through the hardest moments of my life.

I’m trying not to think about what will happen if she doesn’t pull through. The idea that Ember could just cease existing is incomprehensible. And that’s coming from a man who gained his name by killing people for a living. For watching as the life drained from their eyes.

That may not be a primary part of my life and job now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not ingrained in my very being.

And yet one life, one single, solitary heartbeat, has me ready to throw it all away.

“Any word?” I ask, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable.