Chapter 43

Disoriented, he sucked in a harsh breath, already searching for her, despite his vision being blurry and his mind still reeling from being roughly returned to his own head.

He found her hunched over and panting, her face bloodless and stained with tear tracks. She jerked her head up just as he reached for her, eyes wild, and stumbled away to avoid him.

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

Gutted, he didn’t follow her retreat, but neither did he lower his hand, hoping even as he knew he’d lost her.

“Livia ,” he rasped. “By the Gods, Livia , I’m so—”

“Don’t. Just… don’t.”

Leon thought the pain of her seeming betrayal couldn’t be matched, but this—watching her flinch away from him, her body shaking with misery he’d inflicted—this was worse.

On unsteady feet, she pushed the door open and staggered as fast as she was able down the hallway before disappearing up the stairs.

Panic joined the tangle of roiling emotions tearing him apart when he heard the extern