When he reached for her hand, she instinctively pulled away before he could touch her. “Wait—”
“Don’t worry, princess,” he sneered. “You won’t get dirty just from me touching you.”
She’d obviously hurt him.
He had taken her reaction as rejection, and judging by the way he’d immediately withdrawn behind anger and sharp words, the misunderstanding had cut deeper than he wanted to admit. He reminded her of a wounded animal, lashing out because exposing how he really felt was too dangerous. He was simply protecting himself from a perceived insult, and she couldn’t blame him for that. Not when he had been hurt and betrayed in the past.
But that wasn’t what she had meant at all.
She wasn’t rejecting him. It wasn’t fear of him or disgust that made her act that way.
It was a basic survival instinct.
Avoiding touch was second nature to her. It was a habit woven deeply into her subconscious. She had spent so much of her life avoiding people that the response was now automatic. Years of conditioning couldn’t be discarded in a single moment. Even knowing he had only intended to check her for injuries hadn’t been enough to stop that reflex. She reacted before her mind even had a chance to catch up, her body recoiling automatically.
And now he believed she didn’t want him near her.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Trying to make him understand that would be nearly impossible, though. Despite her need to soothe him, she knew that any pleas she made were just bound to piss him off. He didn’t know her yet, and he had no reason to trust her. So, she wouldn’t ask him to. Especially when her best defense wouldmake him angry, since it already proved she had invaded his privacy.
She hadn’t meant for it to happen. Actually, it wasn’t even her fault, but she knew that distinction wouldn’t matter to him. Explanations rarely did when her ability was involved. The moment he’d reached out and touched her cheek, her ability had flared to life. There was no warning, no chance to pull away before her gift had surged forward on its own.
Usually, uncovering someone’s secrets felt like forcing open a locked door. There was resistance, barriers, a sense that she was trespassing somewhere she didn’t belong. This time was different. This time, his mind had opened for her effortlessly, letting her slide in before she even realized what was happening. Images, emotions, and memories swept through her in a dizzying torrent.
She felt fear and saw the faces of the people he had loved most.
In an instant, she understood the truth.
He hadn’t killed his family.
The accusation that had destroyed his life was a lie. He had been condemned for a crime he never committed. Branded a murderer, and sentenced to years of imprisonment for someone else’s actions. While the world cursed his name, the real monsters remained hidden.
The injustice of it stole her breath.
He’d spent centuries carrying the weight of a crime that wasn’t his.
But as devastating as that revelation was, it wasn’t the deepest wound she found within him. Buried beneath the anger, the grief, and the bitterness that had hardened his heart over the years lay a secret so painful he kept it locked away in the darkest corner of his heart.
His deepest, darkest secret was he wished he had died with them.
Living while his entire family was gone had turned out to be a sentence far crueler than the prison walls surrounding him. While the world believed he had taken their lives for power and prestige, he had spent centuries of atonement wishing his own existence had ended with theirs. The guilt of surviving had hollowed him out from the inside, leaving behind a grief so profound it eclipsed everything else. What he wanted most was to follow them into the next life, so as punishment, he forced himself to keep enduring.
When she felt the weight of his sorrow, that raw, endless grief, it broke her heart. Instinctively, she knew he wouldn’t appreciate an outpouring of sympathy. First, she needed to explain who she was and what had happened. After his reaction to her pulling away from him, that wouldn’t be easy. Instead, she decided to do the opposite of pleading and lead with the blunt truth.
Sitting up, she reined in her emotions and dusted her hands off in a casual display of nonchalance. She rested her elbows on her bent knees, and said, “I’m not worried about that. I have a unique ability that is triggered by touch.”
His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to decide whether to believe her or not. “What kind of ability?”
“The kind most people don’t want used on them.”
“You going to electrocute me or something?”
She huffed out a surprise laugh. “Actually, I think that ability would be a whole lot more fun than the one I actually have.”
The silence between them pulsed for a heartbeat, then she sighed.
“I’m able to see someone’s deepest, darkest secrets if I touch them. That’s why I’ve avoided skin-to-skin contact with peoplefor most of my life and wear gloves to cut down on the chances of reading someone unintentionally.”
