“What?!” she snapped. “Are you serious? Your bees make silk— what makes your fucking honey?!”
“Silk bees make silk. Honeybees make honey. Honestly, human, it’s not that complicated,” I replied mockingly.
She let out an aggravated, shrieking groan as she violently ripped off the shirt in obvious frustration and tossed it aside.
She stood in front of me in a red lace band around her breasts, her inflamed skin matching the hue of the lace. She covered her chest with her arms, then turned away, sinking to her knees, hunched over.
Her back was as red as the front, but it was the tears falling down her face that broke me.
I was filled with regret.
“Hey,” I said, hesitant as I stepped closer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
She said nothing.
I didn’t know what to do or say. I only knew I had this overwhelming urge to comfort her. To be near her. To make those fucking tears stop.
I took another step, and she finally spoke.
“I don’t belong here,” she whimpered between sobs. “Delilah, I…” A painful knot formed in my throat.. “I’m trying to get you home. I swear.”
“I don’t…I don’t think I belong there either,” she replied softly.
The words came out slow and strained, as if it were the hardest thing she’d ever had to say, the hardest truth she’d ever had to face.
“I died in my world,” she whispered. “Going back now would
be...unnatural. Jared has probably moved on with his life anyway. Every minute I’m here feels like months away from him. I can hardly remember what his voice sounded like…”
She sobbed, and it was the most gut-wrenching sound I’d ever heard.
I could hear the pain rooted deep in her core, erupting from her cries. Her agony—her longing for this mortal man was the most harrowing sound imaginable.
I had tortured captives for information. Their screams never phased me.
But this…this, I could not take.
The undeniable magnitude of how she loved him tore something inside me that I didn't know was there.
I was green with envy. I suddenly wished someone loved me this violently.
Did I wishshelovedmelike that?
I was mentally incapacitated, too many emotions flooding at once, leaving me to sort through the mess. I didn’t know what to do.
Then, to my surprise, she suddenly stood and dropped her arms, exposing all her red, blotchy skin.
When she spoke again, her tone was nothing but pure, raw hatred.
“And YOU!” she snapped, pointing her finger at me. “You have made it abundantly clear that I do not belong here either!”
In a matter of moments, she shattered all the walls I had built around my heart with only a few words. If she only knew what she did to me, how I felt about her, if she only knew how badly I wanted her, if I could only tell her the truth…
She turned to walk away, and I reacted on impulse alone. I grabbed her wrist firmly to stop her.
She flinched, and I prayed it was from the sudden pressure on her tender skin and not because she thought I would hurt her.
“Delilah, stop,” I ordered, softer than I intended.
