AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He is back in human form. Extremely guilty over the attack, but that’s good. It will give him a reason to keep fighting his aggressive instincts until he has his beast under control.”
“Oh.”
His house was small, but the open layout and large windows made it look bigger. She glanced at his bedroom, the sheets tucked in and his laundry folded at the foot, and felt so much of the domestic intimacy that embarrassment kicked in. She shot up from the couch but was stopped when he stepped in front of her. Even without words, she understood he didn’t want her to leave yet. The incoming confrontation had pressure weighing down her chest.
“We need to talk about this.”
“Coming from the person who doesn’t talk much?” she shot back, then gulped down the guilt that filled her senses. “I’m sorry for stealing the glass and causing you trouble.”
But he waved her apology away. “There’s enough of it that they wouldn’t notice one missing. I think.”
The guilt returned. She started circling the area to wear off the restless energy thrumming in her system, but all it did was heighten it to a point wherein she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Still, Maddox didn’t ask, his patience another anchor as he waited her out. Ruby inhaled deeply, then let the words out.
“It was a storage glass. We use them to store memories and information when writing isn’t enough. I grabbed the wrong one. I’m not supposed to see how many people my brother killed. I already knew. I counted them endless times in my head.”
Even now, the reel came fresh and hollowed her out in horror. She pressed a hand to her stomach, trying to shake off the revulsion.
“I see.”
“He is innocent,” she blurted out. “My brother was a kind man. He would never have done that.”
The silence that followed didn’t judge, but it didn’t approve, either. She noted the way Maddox just stood there, calm and unfazed, his dark clothes a stark contrast to the light-colored furniture in the house he had been given. Then his words had her attention flying back to his face.
“Sometimes even kind people do the craziest things.”
Her back went up. “He is not crazy. You don’t understand.”
“Do you consider me evil?”
“What? No.”
“I killed people. Plenty of them. I left my loved ones to die.”
The confession turned his voice raw and stunned her into speechlessness. Despite remaining immobile, she saw the shift happen as his shoulders slumped slightly in surrender and his gaze moved away.
“Maddox…”
“If I could change the past, I would. It’s one I replay all the time in my head…in my sleep. But it’s done, and I can’t change it. I can only move past it. You can’t change your brother’s fate, either.”
Yes, I can,her head screamed, but she silenced it until it no longer echoed. Outwardly, she didn’t say a word, watching him wrestle his struggle down, too, until he was back to being a statue of calm. When his gaze met hers again, there was only cool determination.
“Which glass were you supposed to steal?”
She could answer, but she knew it would lead to another argument. She could wear him down until he agreed to her unfinished plans, but she didn’t have it in her heart to chip down the life he was carefully building here. Ruby felt the weariness coating her muscles like a blanket and sighed.
“I’m tired.”
It wasn’t an excuse, but it was lame anyway. She braced for the argument and was amazed when he merely nodded.
“Then rest here. Stay the night here. I can take the couch.”
She shook her head. “I’m not taking your bed.”
“I’m not letting you take the couch,” he contended.
“Fine. Then let’s take the bed together.” The suggestion was random, and hearing it out loud had her cheeks burning. She backtracked. “It’s big enough. We can put up a pillow fort between us if it bothers you.”
“Okay. No pillow forts. Let’s be adults about it.”
