Chapter 55.

Iliana crawled across the floor to Emanuel. After one nod from the king, the guard stepped back and he pushed the knife back in between Emanuel's shoulder blades. Iliana gasped but he didn't scream, he bit down and his face turned red but he waited for her calmly. I envied the way that his arms opened up for her, he was ready to catch her in all of her pain despite being trapped in his own agonizingly painful position. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Emanuel cried into the crock of her neck.  No matter how hard it was for me to watch them I knew it’d be worse if I looked up. Darian was watching me, analyzing every expression and how I reacted to what I saw and he was no doubt feeling a surge of joy over seeing me break. “It’s not your fault,” Iliana whispered breathlessly.  I bit down on my tongue until the taste of metal filled my mouth and then I switched to my inner cheek and chewed until a wound opened up. She lifted her chin and rested it on his head while gently reaching around his ba