She kissed the large, jagged scar of a wound that had narrowly missed his heart. “It’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone. Since I’ve wanted to be with anyone, honestly. I’d begun to fear that I was too jaded to feel anymore. But you . . . you break my heart.”
Eve brushed at his soft hair as she sought for the words to soothe his battered soul. “I’m not stupid, Jinx. I know this is all we’ll ever have and that once you leave I’ll never see you again. That was all I expected. Nothing more. And I will never try to claim anything else.”
With those words spoken, she kissed him and got up.
Jinx didn’t speak as he watched her leave him and head to the bathroom.
This is the way it has to be.
He knew that the same way she did.
But it stung him to his soul. And for the first time in years, he remembered the dreams he’d had as a boy.
The days when he’d seen a future of family.
Love.
When he’d taken things such as laughter and acceptance for granted. When monsters were the things that hid in his closet or under his bed, and were quickly banished by his parents coming into his room and wrapping him in a hug.
All his safety and sanity had died under a chorus of brutal screams.
He winced as he saw that night so clearly. As the image of his mother’s death flashed across his eyes again.
“Run! Protect your sister!” His father’s last words before he fell while trying to protect them. “I’m depending on you, Jinx. You’re a Tievel! Never forget that!”
But he had forgotten it.
Survival had pushed everything aside, except the rage of injustice. That bitter hatred he had for a god that had allowed his parents to be slaughtered and his sister to be ripped out of his arms.
By their own brother.
In all these years, nothing else had pushed past those emotions.
Not even the physical pain.
Until now.
No wonder The League was so adamant that they never allow another to touch them.
All those horrific lessons. All those days of starvation and beatings.
Completely undone by the simple need of a human soul desperate for kindness.
If only it were that simple.
End of the day, he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this was a cure for The League’s brutality. He’d met too many of his comrades who were too far gone to ever be brought back from their madness. Those who no longer cared about anyone but themselves. Who lived to hurt others.
Brutality was their sustenance.
It was the only thing that gave them pleasure.
But there were still a few like him, who had somehow managed to retain their souls.
You’re too few and you know it.
Many days, he doubted his own sanity.
Closing his eyes, Jinx listened to the water run as Eve showered. He was desperate to join her.
