AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He didn’t sound annoyed, he actually sounded understanding. His voice was soft and comforting. I continued to sit there, unsure of whether my raw throat would even let me get a word out.
“Rhia, there is no need for you to feel embarrassed about this. I know you, it’s hard for you to show some vulnerability and this could be a sign of weakness, but it’s not. If anything, it’s a sign of how incredibly strong you are. How you’ve been through hell and back, but you never give your demons the time of day when you’re awake, so their only opportunity to attack you is at night.”
I’d never thought about it that way before. He sounded so sure of himself I almost wanted to believe him.
His body was like a warm blanket over me, and I continued to let myself relax into his arms. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nodded.
“I get nightmares, too.”
I couldn’t help but push myself out of his arms slightly so I could look at him to read his eyes. “You do?” That didn’t make any sense, Bennett wasn’t afraid of anything. He was the fiercest warrior I knew, practically stone cold of emotion.
“Shhh,” he said, gently pulling me to lay back down against him. I let my head lean back into the nook of his shoulder. “I have nightmares about the night I found my mother dead in her bed, and about the night when I lost control of my shadows with you.”
“Bennett, it’s—”
“Rhia,” he said with a shaky breath, “please let me finish.”
I nodded silently, encouraging him to continue.
He sighed as he began to stroke his hand through my hair again. “The nightmares were consistent for years, growing up. Always the same one of you in that bed with my shadows wrapped around your neck. Except in the dreams, no one heard you scream, and I ended up killing you.” He shuddered. “I would get sick after the dreams, and most nights I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep afterwards. It haunted me. It still haunts me, and Rhia—I want to apologize. I know this is probably the suckiest apology in history and will never make up for what I did to you, but I’m sorry. I was an angry child who lost his mom and then lost control, but that’s still no excuse. You were my best friend, and I ruined that friendship that night, and you have no idea how much I’ve regretted that and how sorry I am for abandoning you like that.”
I didn’t know what to say. Everything I prayed to the stars that Bennett would one day say to me just came out of his mouth and I couldn’t process it all. The Bennett I knew when I was a child was still in there, and that meant more than any apology ever could.
Then something clicked.
“You never got my letters.”
“No, Rhia.”
So, I wasn’t dreaming when I thought I heard Bennett say that.
“But that doesn’t make any sense.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you get them?
He reached out and pulled me closer, wrapping his arm around my back. My head naturally lay on his chest and the beating of his heart was soothing me back to sleep.
“We can talk more about this in the morning. You can go back to sleep Rhia, I’ll be right here.”
My heart was yelling at me to keep the conversation going, to get the answers I’d always wanted, but my body ached with exhaustion from the day’s ride here and the events of last night. Eventually, my body betrayed me, and I let myself fall into oblivion.
