Yes, she did know who he was, more than anyone else she knew who he was, and she was still sitting before him. "Whatever you did, or whatever was done to you, wasn't something you deserved no matter how much you believe it was. If I know anything, it's you can't be trapped by your past, you'll only be buried within it if you are, and if you allow that to happen, you will be lost."

"You're too good for me."

"I'm not perfect, Ethan!" she snapped, her patience fraying. "I don't understand what you're trying to do here? Shock me into walking away, bring me closer, or prove some point. Why are you telling me this?"

He stared at her as he tried to figure out the answer to her question. She had asked to know everything, but that wasn't why he was telling her this. He was telling her because for once he could tell someone every awful detail he'd tried to deny, been too ashamed to face, and fighting to keep buried about himself. He could finally unburden himself, and though he was going about it in a bad way, he found he had to get it out.

"Because I can," he admitted as some of his anger faded away. "Because I can tell you things I've never told anyone because I have to tell you. Because I've lived with this and fought it for so long, but I was so certain one day I would lose the battle, and be consumed by the power of death. Last night, with that man, the voice inside promised his death would bring me release, it only made it so I crave more. Then, you touch me. The driving bloodlust, the burning urge to kill, it all just fades away, and for the first time in my life, I have peace. You are my angel, Emma, but I'm a monster."

She was trying to let her mind rule over her heart, but those words drove her to her feet and over to him before she could stop herself. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest.

"You're not a monster; you're my hero. I'm so unbelievably confused and uncertain right now; I do know you're a better man than you give yourself credit for. You are a good man, Ethan, that's the whole reason you've never harmed anyone who didn't deserve it or didn't ask you for it."

Ethan couldn’t believe she was willing to touch him after what he revealed. He stared at the top of her head before coming to his senses and slipping his arms around her shoulders. It felt so unbelievably good to be holding her again, and though he believed she was wrong when she told him he was a good man, he couldn't let her go.

"You shut the world out," he whispered into her hair.

"You can't lock the world out, that's not living."

"You make it possible for me to live in the world then."

He would be her complete undoing, she realized. It was so difficult to keep her distance when he was saying things like that to her.

"I'm not entirely sure what this world is anymore," she said with a small laugh.

"These past couple of days have been a lot for you, I know. I'll give you time to decide what it is you want."

She forced herself to release him and take a step back. His hands lingered on her shoulders before slipping away. The minute the contact with him was lost, his eyes took on that reddish color. Emma shuddered as she searched his face.

"I don't understand. You said your father was nearly driven mad, that Isabelle almost died, yet you would let me go?"

He rested his hand against her cheek. "The only thing I care about is your safety and happiness. If that means I have to walk away, then I will."

"And what will happen to you?"

"Don't worry about me."

Emma frowned as he turned away from her and walked toward the door. "But I do worry about you. What will happen to you Ethan, will you go mad; would you die?"

His shoulders hunched forward as he grabbed hold of the door handle. "I will stay away from you."

It wasn't an answer to her question, but she didn't have time to press him on it as he opened the door and left the room. Emma took a step after him. Tears formed in her eyes when the door shut with a click of finality. Everything inside her screamed to go after him. She remained unmoving as his words continued to swirl through her mind.

An eternity with a man she was certain she was in love with, but what about her life? How could she give up everything she'd always known? Would she have to give it all up?

Her heart felt like it was shattering; tears slid down her face as her thoughts turned to her parents. She couldn't stand the idea of messing with their minds in any way. Then there was everything he revealed about his sexual history. She didn't know how to assimilate the man who touched her with such tenderness and care, with the one who enjoyed inflicting and having pain inflicted on him so much.

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was nightfall when she emerged from her room. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but exhaustion had taken hold after Ethan's revelations, and now she was wide awake. There was a light on in the kitchen. The rest of the house was still as she made her way down the hall. A small squeak escaped her when Ethan lifted his arm from his eyes as she stepped into the living room; she hadn't seen him lying on the couch until he moved. She clutched the edges of her robe together and let out a nervous laugh as a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"I fell asleep. Is everyone else already in bed?"

"They are."

There were sundaes topped with

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