MYKEL'S POV (continuing):
Istraightened, pacing away from him, running a hand through my hair as the rage inside me sharpened.
"Eighteen years."
I turned so fast the words cracked through the room like thunder.
"Eighteen years I planned for this."
My chest rose heavily, my fingers tightening around the knife until my knuckles whitened.
"Eighteen years of waiting. Watching. Building. Preparing." I laughed bitterly. "And when I finally reach the moment I've spent my entire life crawling toward…"
I pointed the blade at him.
"Rats like you appear."
My voice lowered, dangerous and trembling with fury.
"You come sniffing around. Smiling at her. Standing too close to her. Acting like you belong near her." My lips curled. "Trying to take what is mine. Trying to snatch away the one thing I have bled for."
I turned away from him then, facing the dark wall.
For a moment, the anger faded.
And all that remained was memory.
My voice softened.
"I was just a kid."
The words barely made it out.
"There was a fire."
My gaze unfocused, seeing it all over again, the heat, the smoke, the screams, the crackling beams collapsing around me.
"They left me there." My throat tightened. "My own relatives left me there to burn. To rot in the ashes."
My hand trembled.
"But she came."
A broken breath escaped me, something dangerously close to reverence.
"She came into the flames like she wasn't afraid of death." My lips parted in a faint, haunted smile. "She dragged me out. Saved me. Took me to the hospital."
I swallowed hard.
"She left with her parents after that. She probably forgot me by the next day."
My fingers curled tighter around the knife.
"But I never forgot her."
Never.
"I remembered her face. Her voice. Her eyes." My chest ached with the weight of it. "And I waited."
I turned my head slightly, enough for Percy to see the side of my face.
"I waited for the years to pass. I waited for her to grow. I waited for the world to become cruel enough that she'd need someone strong enough to shield her from it."
My lips parted into something that wasn't quite a smile.
"And while I waited…"
I looked at him again.
"I watched."
His breathing stuttered.
"I watched every step she took. Every place she went. Every meal she ate. Every tear she cried. Every smile she gave." My voice turned almost dreamy, almost worshipful. "I learned every wound hidden inside her. Every crack in her heart. Every silence no one else noticed."
I pressed a hand to my chest, as though steadying the ache there.
"I made myself worthy."
The words came out raw.
"I built everything for her. Every move. Every choice. Every sacrifice." My eyes burned. "So when the time came, I would be perfect."
My voice broke into something soft, almost fragile.
"A husband who would fill every emptiness in her life."
A tear slipped free before I could stop it.
I wiped it away with the back of my hand, my face turning blank again in an instant.
"A husband who would make sure she never feels abandoned."
"Never feels used."
"Never feels unsafe."
"Never suffers again."
Silence fell.