Page 114 of Sands of Atonement

Down the hall, I peeked into another room.

It was barely lit, but I could see a large silhouette slumped on a low couch. Ezra. He decided to sleep out here instead of in his room across from mine.

My stomach twisted, and I could feel my veins simmering. My body didn’t like that. He’d been sleeping near me for days now, and for some odd reason, I didn’t like the sudden change.

The top of his hair had grown even more. It was thick and wavy, like Casimir’s. He had trimmed his beard today, and it was shorter than usual. I walked in quietly and watched his chest rise slowly and deeply.

He was asleep.

He seemed so peaceful compared to earlier, when he had stripped me down to my vulnerability and my weakness. My jaw twitched. And I just found out his weakness: not being in control.

Easy.

After half an hour of searching and picking up my supplies, I snuck back to the dark room and proceeded with my plan.

First, I had to get rid of his hands. I began to slowly, very slowly, pull them together with extreme stealth, which I learned from Garamgai. I made a tie that made it so when he pulled his hands apart, they became tighter. Much like he did to me in Urnaz. The purpose: not to fight.

Then I went for his ankles.

I felt his leg twitch beneath my fingers.

I froze.

I looked up. His eyes were still closed.

Proceeding and focusing on the task at hand, and finally⁠—

“What. The. Fuck. Are you doing?” I heard his voice say.

My heart pounded against my ribs.

His eyes were on me, and a flare of his nose told me he was about to end me.

Slowly, I rose and grabbed the pipe near me. I flashed a smile.

“Whatever it is that you’re thinking about doing, don’t,” Ezra warned with his jaw as hard as a rock.

I suppressed the laugh within my belly.

This was going perfectly.

With the candle I brought in, I burned the wick and placed it at the end of the pipe.

Ezra pulled on the ties, and his eyes bulged. I could see the veins on his neck. He was angry.

I inhaled the smoke, opened my mouth, and breathed in the smoke.

“I know what your weakness is.” I placed myself on top of him, straddling his hips. His body was warm under mine, but I ignored the way it made me feel.

Ezra froze, his breathing stilled. His body tensed.

“It’s control,” I answered and leaned forward. I inhaled some more smoke.

“Don’t you fucking dare, or you’ll regret it, I swear it on my life,” Ezra growled and pulled against the ties, but nothing happened.

His voice was shaking.

I placed my fingers around his face so he couldn’t move from the smoke, and he flinched.