He was one of the only people standing perfectly still. His smug smile was gone, his shadowed face oddly contemplative. I glared at him and nothing else. As everything else steadily turned to little more than bleary, smoke-obscured blurs, he became my only tether to this realm, this lifetime. I directed every angry, desperate thought I had in his direction. All my bitterness. All my rage. The familiar hatred cocooned me as it always did, bringing safety and warmth as I sank into it, making me invincible and— The guard looked up. Our eyes met. All the warmth in the world abruptly disappeared. A
...more
