A Dance Of Crowns & Thrones | Book I

Chapter 144a | It's All In The Details

"What the fuck is this?" Eko mimicked him with biting sarcasm, her voice a venomous echo of his own disbelief. "Did you forget to mention your heart was deteriorating to anyone? Or that Dr. Keaton here had already told you that you needed a heart transplant?" Her voice climbed with every word, the sarcasm thick and cruel. "Huh? Did that little detail just slip your fucking idiotic mind, or something?"

Matthew stared at her, caught off guard by the sheer force of her rage, but Eko wasn't finished.

"You didn't think that was important?" She threw her hands in the air, her voice a bitter cocktail of fury and sarcasm. "I mean, who needs to know that you're slowly dying, right? Why burden anyone with that fun little fact?"

Dr. Keaton cleared his throat, trying to step in. "Ms. Swan, if I could just—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Eko snapped, cutting Dr. Keaton off without even glancing in his direction, her focus locked entirely on Matthew. Her eyes were ablaze, her entire body trembling as her pointed finger seared through the air toward him. "Do you have any idea what it's like to sit there, begging every fucking god to let you live? Do you even care?" Her voice wavered between fury and devastation, each word hitting like a physical blow. "Why in the hell did you think that needing a heart transplant was a minor detail you could just... ignore?"

Matthew's mouth opened, but no words came. He sat there, stunned, as her fury crashed over him in waves.

"You died!" Eko's voice cracked, sharp and jagged with emotion. "You fucking died!" Her hands shook as they clenched at her sides, her body visibly straining under the weight of her anguish. "And the doctors couldn't bring you back. Do you get that? Keaton had you open on that table, and Xero's fucking dagger was laced with reaper's poison. They couldn't bring you back!"

The room seemed to vibrate with the intensity of her words. "So fuck you, Matthew," she spat, her voice breaking under the unbearable strain. "Fuck you for the worst twelve hours of my life! You didn't tell me. You didn't warn me." Her sobs began to punctuate her words, the heartbreak rising to the surface as her rage reached its peak.

Matthew's chest tightened painfully, watching her fall apart in front of him. Every word she hurled at him was like a knife, and he had no way to deflect them. He tried to move, tried to reach for her, but she recoiled instantly, yanking her hand away from him.

"Eko, baby..." His voice was barely a whisper, filled with guilt, but she wasn't having it.

"No." Her voice was low, dangerous, her pain raw and unfiltered. "Don't you fucking dare."

What caught Matthew off guard was the sheer force of Eko's fury—it radiated from her like a physical force, her energy pulsing in waves he could feel through the air. Sparks of magic danced at her fingertips, the crackling intensity of it building with each passing second. Instinctively, he reached out, grabbing her hand, his grip firm and unyielding, grounding her before she could completely spiral out of control.

"Stop it!" he snarled, his own voice tight with the strain of holding everything together. His grip tightened around her hand, an anchor to the whirlwind of emotions threatening to consume them both. His heart raced, pounding hard against his ribs as the weight of her words finally sank in—hitting him like a tidal wave. He hadn't understood, hadn't realized the severity of it all until now.

"Eko, stop it! Hey, look at me!" His voice edged with urgency as he fought to break through the torrent of her anger and pain.

Dr. Keaton took a step back, his gaze flicking between the two of them, fully aware of the danger. The air felt thick, heavy with tension, as Eko's powers reacted to her turbulent emotions. Keaton remained a silent witness, cautious but ready, knowing one wrong move could send everything spiraling further out of control.