Rhys grunts out a laugh. “I don’t come from here, Millie.” He crouches to get eye level with her, and I perk up when he points to the sky, adding, “See that?”
Gram nods. “The sky? Yeah, kinda can’t miss it.”
“No, Millie, beyond the stars and the universe.”
It takes Gram a bit of effort to turn her body to face him, but she eventually does. When she places her tiny hand on his cheek, she asks, “Are you an alien, son?”
He circles her wrist. “No, I’m not an alien.”
“Oh, thank the Lord,” she huffs out. “I can handle a lot of strange shit, but I don’t think I’m ready for an E.T.” She gives him a peculiar look. “If you’re no alien, then what the hell are you?”
“Rhys Ravenstone.”
She nods as if his name explains everything when it explains exactly nothing. “Whatwereyou?”
Rhys stands and glances at the sky with a heavy shrug. “Stardust. Shadows. A jumble of thoughts.” He glances at himself. “This, for now.”
The turkey sandwich turns to sawdust in my stomach. “Whoa, wait a minute. Rewind.”
Rhys turns to me. “Rewind to what, Charlotte?”
“To the jumble of thoughts, Rhys.” I spin my index finger in a little circle. “You had a consciousness in the void?”
He lifts a single brow. “Am I not a living being?”
“Yes, but?—”
“And I wouldn’t have a consciousness why…?”
Jesus Christ, is he serious? That must have been pure torture, floating in that nothingness, his mind active. I shouldn’t care. No, I should not. What he is, was, or will be…after…is none of my business. Except I do care—too much—and after I swallow the lump glued to the back of my throat, all I manage is a hoarse, “Rhys.”
“It is what it is, Charlotte.”
“It’s not fair.” I flick my frantic gaze to Gram, silently begging for her help, but she’s nodding in the chair, this small exertion too much for her. “It’s not fair,” I repeat in a raw whisper.
He sits before me, blocking out everything else. “No, it’s not. It’s not fair that I was aware of every fucking second I spent caged in that goddamn void.”
And that’s what I see in his eyes. The abysmal darkness reflected in them. I see his prison, and for the first time since… Since I lost my parents, since I lost my baby, since Jason made a fool out of me, I feel a crack in the wall I built to protect my heart from hurt.
I’d keep Rhys here to prevent him from suffering the darkness if I could.
I scrub a hand over my face, wanting to wish away a lifetime of my pain andlifetimesof imprisonment for him.
“Stop,” he demands gruffly.
“Stop what?”
“Whatever’s going on inside your mind.” He traces a finger along my forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Charlotte.”
“No, it’s not.” How can he ever speak such a lie? “I swiped right and made a giant mess, didn’t I?”
He pulls my hands from my face. “We’ll figure it out.” He glances over his shoulder at Gram. “Let me get Millie inside.”
I nod. “Rhys?” When he stands and goes to walk away, I leap to my feet and grab his arm. “Iamsorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing you here.”
