Page 49 of Anywhere

“Then I think I handle one night. Just put a boundary in place,” he said as he marched away.

“Fuck,” Rook yelled when he walked around the far corner of the hall.

As terrible of a person as it made me, I loved that he was possessive and gave me this gift without guilt. It showed me more than any pretty or sexy words ever could.

Rhys

Stepping into the room, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but Mari in one of my black T-shirts hanging on her like a dress was not it. She was bent over, going through my drawers with her adorable ass in the air. The door clicked closed, and she jumped, clutching a hoodie.

“Whadda ya doin’?” I asked.

Mari looked away and turned in a circle before she spotted the woolen socks she pulled from the drawer and left on the bed. She marched over, trying to put the hoodie on at the same time.

“I used some of your toothpaste. I hope you don’t mind, but that demon taste was stuck in my mouth,” she said as she pulled the hoodie down. Her face appeared lodged in the arm of the thing.

“Mari, did ya not hear Rook?”

She still didn’t say anything.

“Fuck my life,” she growled, trying to get the hoodie fixed.

I closed the distance and pulled on the hood to free her head. She pulled it down and into place before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Squatting in front of her, I grabbed her shaking hands as she fumbled with the thick socks.

“Ah, screw it! I don’t need socks,” she tried to stand, but I held her wrists firm.

“Mari, ya almost died. We need ta talk.”

“Sure, but not right now.” She jerked away from me and made to bolt for the door, but she wasn’t getting out of at least talking.

“Glas bacainn,” I said, holding my hand out to the door. It locked, and a barrier went up into place.

Mari spun around and looked at me, her eyes wide. “What did you just do?”

Before she could think about her options, I held my hand out to the washroom door. “Glas bacainn,” I repeated.

The door slammed closed, and another barrier went up. The final spot was the window—not that I expected her to jump from this high up, but I wasn’t giving her any opportunities to prove me wrong. Mari was strong, but she would be weak from her ordeal and I had a lot of tricks and kept them up my sleeve.

“Rhys… No! What are you doing?”

“We’re needin’ ta talk.” Mari crossed her arms over her chest as I walked toward her. “Ya almost died on me, Mari.”

“That’s not what was supposed to happen!” she yelled as the tears began to stream down her cheeks. “I was attacked. They forced me to take the whole bottle. I was only going to buy a bottle and take a drop. I swear to you.”

“Attacked? By whom?”

“The demons. I don’t know why. They never said, but they purposely overdosed me. It’s how I got this.” She pointed to the bruise on her face. “I didn’t try to kill myself, Rhys. I swear I didn’t.”

“I need ta find out who opened dat portal. Dey will ‘ave da answers,” I growled, anger overriding everything else as I pictured those disgusting demons hurting Mari.

“Um… I had it opened. I…” Mari held herself tighter. “I needed some of the blood and knew you wouldn’t like me going to them. I shouldn’t have gone behind your back. I’m sorry. I just wanted to deal with this on my own.”

Marching away, I ran my hand through my hair. “Mari, ya know how dangerous dis magic be. Why?”

“Why?” She held her arms out, and I could see the anger beginning to burn in her eyes. “You can’t understand what it’s like to be me. I don’t want to live in pain all the fucking time anymore. I’m tired of waking up and fighting my ability and this lonely existence without any reprieve. Every single day is a struggle just to breathe and not feel like I’m suffocated by the solitude, the voices, or the pain. I feel useless all the time and try so hard to be a good person, and yet, it’s constant torture. So yes, I wanted a little bit of peace. Even for a few hours. To be able to take a deep breath and not feel it all pressing in on me.”

Her eyes locked with mine, and the raw emotion there took my breath away.