Amara carved the nas over and over, her fingers bleeding. She knew she was losing ti. Her thoughts were becoming sluggish, the dicine Seb was forcing into her system making it hard to focus.
"I won’t forget," she sobbed, her breath hitching as she tucked the rug back over the carvings. "I won’t let you kill who I am."
She looked at the ring on her finger. It sparkled in the dim light, a beautiful, glittering lie.
--
The small black boat slipped into the cove like a shark, the water churning silently around its hull. Julian watched the dark silhouette of the villa against the starlit sky, his heart hamring against his ribs not with fear, but with a cold, focused fury.
"Sir, we’ve bypassed the periter sensors," his lead guard whispered, checking the console. "The villa is five hundred yards ahead, just past the boat dock."
Julian checked his weapon, his face devoid of rcy. He had spent weeks in this hellish heat, tracing the "Nature Reserve" to this exact coordinate. Weeks imagining what he would do to Seb for taking Amara.
"Move in," Julian ordered, stepping onto the rickety wooden pier. "If anyone stands in the way, take them down. But leave Seb to . I want him to see exactly what he’s lost."
As they approached the dock, they spotted a small skiff tied up, a man furiously loading heavy, unrecognizable dical equipnt from it.
Julian drew his weapon, aiming it squarely at the man’s chest. "Step away from the gear."
Doctor Aris froze, holding a heavy tal casing. He looked at the ard n surrounding him and sighed, dropping the equipnt. "Who are you people? Believe I’m only here to perform a procedure scheduled for tomorrow."
"What procedure?" Julian growled, stepping closer, the muzzle of his gun pressed against the doctor’s collarbone.
"Total mory dissociation," Aris mumbled, looking at the ground. "He wanted a clean slate. A reset. He wanted to remove the last year of her life from her mind."
Julian’s blood ran cold. The sheer insanity of it shattered his composure for a split second before a surge of adrenaline rushed in. "Where is she? Where is Amara?"
"In the villa."
Julian signaled to his n. "Secure him. And Aris? You’re going to call Seb. You’re going to tell him you got delayed, that you aren’t coming. I want him to know he’s alone."
Inside the villa, Seb was standing by the master bedroom window, watching the rain stop. He felt a strange calm. Tomorrow, Amara would wake up, and the nightmare would be over.
His phone buzzed. Doctor Aris.
"It’s over, Seb," Aris said, his voice trembling under the watchful eye of Julian’s guard. "Equipnt failure. I can’t make it. I’m canceling."
Click.
Seb stared at the phone, a slow, creeping panic replacing his calm. "No," he whispered, turning toward the bedroom door. "No, I just need a little more ti..."
Outside, the front door of the villa exploded inward.
"Seb!" Julian’s voice roared through the halls, booming with a promise of violence. "It’s over!"
Seb ran to the bedroom, throwing the deadbolt, his heart shattering. He turned to Amara, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, pale and trembling from the drugs he’d been giving her. She looked up at him, her eyes vacant, not fully understanding the fear on his face.
"Amara," Seb whispered, rushing to her side, his confidence evaporating. "They’re here. But it’s okay. I’ll protect you."
"Protect ?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You’re the monster, Seb."
"Co with ," Seb hissed, grabbing Amara’s wrist with a grip that left bruises. He didn’t drag her toward the front door; he dragged her toward the French doors leading to the rear terrace, toward the dark cliff edge overlooking the churning ocean.
Amara stumbled, her mind sluggish from the drugs, but fear jolted her awake. "Seb, stop!"
"It’s not over," Seb whispered frantically, his eyes wild. "I can still fix this."
He shoved her toward a long teak table positioned at the very edge of the terrace. On it sat six identical crystal glasses filled with a clear liquid.
"What is this?" Amara asked, backed against the railing, the cold wind whipping her hair around her face.
Seb looked at the glasses with a sick, desperate intensity. "I read about this, too. A way to prove fate. A way to prove we belong together."
He began to pace behind the table, his hand hovering over the glasses. "I’ve lined them up. Five are water. One..." He looked up at her, a tear finally tracking down his cheek. "One contains a lethal, fast-acting toxin."
Amara’s blood ran cold. The madness of his plan hit her with suffocating force. "You’re insane. Seb, you can’t do this!"
"Let’s play a ga, Amara," Seb said, his voice eerily calm. "The doors are unlocked. You are free to walk out that gate and down to the docks."
Amara stared at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"But here is the price," Seb continued. "For every step you take toward the exit, I will drink a glass. You can stop at any ti by telling there is still hope for us, that I should keep trying. Or, you can keep walking and watch die. If I hit the poison, you’re free. My life for your liberty. Isn’t that what you wanted?"
Amara looked at the glasses, then at the man she had once loved with her whole soul. She thought of the seven years of lies. She thought of the child she lost. She thought of the cage he had built for her here.
"You think I’m joking?" Seb asked, his hand hovering over the first glass.
Amara didn’t say a word. She took a step toward the door.
Clink. Seb picked up the first glass and drained it. He slamd it back on the table, his eyes never leaving hers. He was fine.
Amara took a second step, her face a mask of stone.
Clink.
He drained the second glass. Still nothing.
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