Chapter One
Emery
The tell-tale rustle and crunch of leaves under my shoes send chills through my body. Now ablaze with colour, the trees alert me to the change in seasons, waking me from the daze where each day bleeds into the next.
I’ve been here too long.
I should have disappeared as soon as I had the chance, fought the pull keeping me here.
A myriad of earth-toned colours covers the wide path around me. With hues of orange, red, and gold, the leaves are more striking now as they fall from life than they were when they were alive and flourishing.
Like a slow, beautiful death.
A lie.
Death isn’t beautiful—it’s bloody and gruesome.
It leaves a stain on your soul.
My fingers flex around my camera, itching to capture the contradiction, but I know I don’t have time to stop.
The crisp morning air wraps itself around me, and my long, dark hair whips around my face in the breeze as goosebumps prickle my skin despite my windbreaker. The sun is just starting to peek over the city’s tall buildings, but it’s not enough to raise the temperature this early in the morning, and my jeans are barely enough to keep me from freezing.
I flinch as someone runs past me close enough to almost brush my arm, and I almost drop the camera I’ve been carrying as my head snaps up to scan the faces of those around me. My muscles tensing—ready to run at the first sign of trouble. Although, no one seems to be paying me any attention. The jogger carries on their way through the park without so much as a glance in my direction.
You’re being paranoid.
Trying to try to calm my racing heart, I press a palm to my chest.
Paranoid? Maybe, but Ican’tgo back.
He was going to kill me. It might not be anytime soon, but it would have come eventually. My agony was his ecstasy. He tookeverythingfrom me. I’d lived that life for nearly seven years, but he’d never lost control before like he did that day. A shiver rakes down my spine at the memory of lying on the floor of his office, my body bending and breaking under the strength of his blows until I couldn’t move—couldn’t hear anything but the rushing of blood through my ears and his ragged breaths as he beat me to within an inch of my life. I knew then if I didn’t find a way to escape him, I wasn’t going to survive.
The reminder of how careless it is to stay in this city sits like a lead weight in my stomach.
With a shake of my head, I push the thoughts aside, continuing to make my way through the park. The clearing to the main street comes into view as an old black classic car pulls up to the curb in front of a small café.
My heart beats harder for an entirely different reason, and I step off the path by the trees, raising the camera to my face. Nobody pays attention to what I’m doing. I learnt how to blend into the shadows years ago.
To be invisible.
The familiar feeling against my cheek and the weight in my hands is like a calming balm through my veins, and the sight that greets me through the lens, once again steals the breath from my lips.
Sebastian’s tall frame unfolds from the passenger side of the car, and his muscles strain with effort against the confines of his suit. The way the expensive navy material hugs every contour of his body makes me wonder if it’s been tailored especially for him. The top button of his white shirt is undone, showing the barest hint of his tanned chest.
He stands on the sidewalk with his shoulders pulled back and chin high, an air of authority flowing off him in waves. His dark hair sits neat and stylish, though I doubt it’s anything but natural. I’ve seen him run his hand through his hair so many times, only for it to fall perfectly back in place. His face is etched into hard lines, but I know what he hides.
What he doesn’t want anyone else to notice.
The slight smudge of purple under his eyes and how he continuously tenses his jaw. There’s a coldness in his eyes that wasn’t there before, icing out the warmth from those blue depths.
The soft click of the camera echoes in my ear, and my skin tingles with awareness from being even this close to him.
I wish I could be closer
Close enough to breathe in his scent.
Totouch him.