Lucien went quiet all of a sudden. That cloud of rage that had been ready to swallow him whole just vanished after Emma smacked him and snapped that she would cry right there. It was wiped clean, as if it had never existed. He looked at her and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He just bit his lip like a kicked puppy and kept silent. The next slap cracked through the air. When he still didn't answer, Emma hit him again and pushed. "Hurry up and hand it over." Lucien took a long breath and swallowed his frustration. He pulled out the storage band and tossed it to her. "Here." He said it under his breath, then turned away from her and refused to look back. Liar. She not only fooled me, but she also hit me. And the worst part is she even threatened me… Emma took the storage band without even glancing at it and slipped it onto her finger like it was nothing. She looked at the man curled up on the bed like he was one breath away from shutting down. She leaned in, brushed her nose against his, and softened her voice the way people do when they try to coax a kid. "Hey. I wasn't lying. I grabbed the storage band so I could pull something out for you." Lucien wrapped an arm around her waist and held her tight. His voice came out frustrated. "What were you trying to give me? Why couldn't you just tell me? I could've gotten it for you." His tone sounded more and more wounded the longer he talked, and he stared at Emma as if she had personally betrayed him. "You didn't just lie to me. You hit me. You even threatened me." Emma felt zero guilt. She lifted her wrist and rattled the chain still locked around it. "You're still keeping me chained up. I can't even move around on my own. Did you hear me complaining?" Lucien froze. Her blunt question shut him down completely. The words stuck in his chest, and all that leftover hurt just sat there, making him miserable. Yeah. I'm the one who has her chained up. What right do I have to stand here and argue with her? After seeing Lucien choke on his own words, looking completely frustrated and stuck, Emma didn't soften at all. She just stared him down even harder, feeling even more justified than before.How does he even have the nerve to argue with me? When have I ever been the kind of person who sits down and talks things out? Obviously never. I always opt for the most direct approach that actually works. "Alright, stop being mad." Emma lowered her head and kissed Lucien. Her voice softened as she tried to soothe him. "I just went to grab something." "What did you need?" Lucien asked. "Hmm?" Emma looked at him, and the next second there was a sharp clatter of metal. A cold touch hit Lucien's wrist, and he jerked his head up. Emma was holding a new chain. He watched her move, and his eyes tightened all at once. Lucien tried to sit up on instinct, but Emma pushed down on his shoulder and pressed him back into the soft mattress. "Emma, what are you doing?" He stared at her, and a hint of unsteady panic finally crept into his voice. Emma didn't answer him and instead chose to show him. She lifted the other end of the chain, reached over his head, and looped it cleanly around the carved metal railing at the headboard. There was a crisp click. In a room this quiet, that tiny lock sounded painfully clear and way too dramatic. When she finished, Emma lowered her head again and looked at Lucien with clear satisfaction. She brushed a fingertip over his lashes that trembled from shock and whispered near his ear. "There. Now we're even." Lucien went silent. He stared at what she had done, then looked down at how completely she had pinned him, and his mind blanked for a moment. Even? This was nothing like even… Emma watched the shift in his eyes—from shock, to confusion, to a slowly creeping, dangerous glint—and instead of fear, she leaned closer. Her fingers traced the strange, dark plumage at the center of his brow. "Don't like the gift I gave you?" Gift? Lucien let out a sharp, unexpected laugh. His bound wrist tensed violently, the chain rattling with a crisp clink. His free hand shot up like lightning, gripping the back of Emma's neck, and he crushed his mouth to hers. "I love it. I love it so d*mn much, Emma…" Somehow, the curtains had stirred in the wind, slicing the neon chaos of Z-1689 into jagged, flowing shards of color across their tangled bodies. The light flickered and danced like their uneven breaths, like the tension rolling between them. Night passed. The next morning. When Lucien finally opened his eyes, he was still chained to the bed. Emma was nowhere in sight. The chain he had locked onto her wrist now lay discarded on the sheets. She is gone. Emma is gone! The thought hit Lucien like a bolt of lightning, shattering every scrap of reason in his mind. The room was dead quiet, quiet enough that he could hear his own heart plummeting into some endless void. Just last night, the air had been thick with desire, but now all that was left was the hollow emptiness after she was gone. Lucien pushed himself up slowly. The chains at the head of the bed clanged harshly with his movement, mocking him with just how pathetic his situation was.