“Shadow…” He reached for her, but she flung out a hand, stopping him, and Nik clenched his fingers.
“It would have cost you nothing to get rid of an abuser!”
“Kill a human?” he growled. “There are laws that bind us from harming any human. But had I known the truth, do you honestly think I wouldn’t help a female in distress?” Nik rubbed his nape, trying to reel in his frustration.
After a moment, he continued, “Something about her haunted expression wouldn’t let go of me. So, I called her cell two days later, only to learn she’d died in an accident—”
“An accident? Yeah, right.” Those starburst-hued eyes churned like a nebula storm, skewering him, but the distance in her gaze was like a vise around his heart. “We humans are so far beneath you immortals’ notice—”
“Don’t.”She’s hurting,he reminded himself and lashing out because of it. “I’m sorry I was too late. It’s something I’ve deeply regretted. I searched the cemeteries in New York, found her grave, and have asked her forgiveness, but it’s not one I can ever have.”Not now, when I see the anger and the accusation in your eyes.
Lips pressed tight, she dashed her wet face and stepped back from him.
With her single action, she cleaved his entire being into two. “Shadow—”
Eyes glassy with tears, she wheeled away. “I need to get out of here. I need air.”
She grabbed black leggings from the padded bench, yanked them on, pushed her feet into her sneakers, and ran from the room.
Nik stood there, not sure if he should give her space or—
Fuck it. She was his mate and heartbroken.
He hurried to the dressing room, put on sweats and his Nikes, grabbed a t-shirt, and flashed, catching up with her on the castle’s back stairs. He pulled on his tee, had no idea how to heal this hurt. But he knew he had to get her to talk, get it all out before it festered, and she started to hate him, or worse, be indifferent. He’d lived with indifference all through his childhood—hell, most of his life. He couldn’t bear it from his mate, too.
As they stepped outside onto the terrace, Nik put a hand on her back—she didn’t seem aware of it, wrapped in her thoughts—and gently nudged her toward the lesser used path leading through the gardens to the forest. He didn’t want to bump into anyone.
“Olivia was beautiful, vivacious,” she whispered, after several minutes of silence. “She had so much to live for. She didn’t deserve to die or be tied to an abuser like him. Grandfather should have used me as payment. My life was finite.”
My life was finite?
Yes, mortals lived for a handful of decades, but she said it as if she wouldn’t. He grasped her arm, stopping her amidst the shrubs growing wild and thick in the area. “What do you mean?”
“We lived a life of luxury, but it was all a sham. Our grandfather was eyeballs deep in debts with his investors—”
“Not that, I meantyou.About your life being finite?”
“I had a heart defect. With meds and treatment, I had maybe a few years if I was lucky.”
Nik staggered to a halt.
She shrugged like it mattered little and headed toward the narrow trail between the looming trees. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m all hale and healthy now.
His mouth thinned at her cynicism. He caught up with her, holding it all in, knowing hitting out was probably the only way she could deal with reliving her sibling’s death.
Still… “You matter a great deal to me, Shadow,” he said quietly. “You know this.”
“Grandfather couldn’t pay his debtors,” she continued, not responding to what he said. “Enzo decided he wanted one of us as his spouse. We were both identical back then, and Olivia agreed because not only was she a minute older than me, but also the stronger one—”
“You were twins?” Nik rasped, feeling as if another blow had landed in his gut, his gaze skimming over her wan, delicate features. Hell, he didn’t see it, not the hair, the eyes, nothing except for the height.
She nodded, wrapping her arms around her waist as she picked her way over the decaying leaves and twigs. “Enzo was all about appearances. He said with her pale complexion, Livy would look better as a redhead, so she had her hair dyed before the engagement. But she grew quieter and quieter as the months passed, no longer the sunny girl I knew. I could sense her despair, then dreams of abuse infiltrated my dreams, but she denied anything was wrong…” A shaky breath left her.
“After a trip overseas with him, Livy came back home, and I walked into her room while she was changing…” She stopped, staring blankly at a few squirrels chattering and darting among the fallen leaves. Her delicate throat worked as if she couldn’t swallow, her pain constricting Nik like serrated wires.
Bolting down his fury, he drew her into his arms, and a sob wracked her body. “I-I saw the bruises on her body, the long welts. I demanded she tell me what happened. He had a temper, it seems. Livy begged me not to tell Grandfather anything. She didn’t want to worry him. He was our only family left after our parents died in an accident…”
Tormented wet eyes lifted to his. “She was my sister, Nik. My twin. Even away from her, I felt her emotions. I’d get up at night sweating, feeling her despair and pain. I couldn’t stomach it any longer. I confronted Grandfather, begged him not to let Livy marry that man. He said I didn’t know what I was talking about, that it was just hallucinations from taking my heart meds. And that Enzo was an upstanding man. I was so angry with him.”
