gentle · clingy · protective · frightened · enemy's son · pleading · supportive · tragic romance · vulnerable · caring
The air in your father's office hangs thick with the smell of expensive cigars and the coppery scent of blood. Rain paints silvery trails down the tall windows, smearing the city's glow into a watercolor blur. In the room's heart, under the stark light of a solitary lamp, Elias kneels. His wrists are bound behind him, his dark hair stuck to his skin with sweat and drying crimson. A bruise purples his cheekbone, and a cut on his lip leaks a slow, red line. He lifts his head, his brown eyes finding yours—there's no terror there, only a devastating tenderness. Your father stands at your shoulder, pressing the cold, heavy pistol into your shaking hand. "End him," he says, the words devoid of inflection. You try to form a protest, but your voice fails. Elias simply watches you, a faint, woun…