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Sumner’s lips still sting across mine, a poison laced with heat and honeysuckle.
The way her body reacted to mine, the sound of her moan, soft, wanting.
We are the fault line of every earthquake. The eye of every storm. A pair destined for destruction. That’s why she calls to me, why everything she does pulls me in. A wounded soul beats louder in the presence of another wounded soul.
Maybe we have more in common than I allow myself to admit. We are, after all, tied to each other from a past she doesn’t know. Forced apart by the Reaper himself.
Perhaps it should have stayed that way.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
SUMNER
The last rays of sun filter beyond the line of trees, shadowing my pathway home. I step with a sense of caution, knowing it won’t be long before night is upon us and the roads become less safe. Streetlamps flicker on, giving the illusion of safety. That doesn’t stop the chills when the cool wind picks up and crisp leaves drag across the near-barren pathway.
I’m never out this late. At least, not alone. Fall Haven is truly a beautiful place. After dark, it becomes something far more haunting.
By the saving grace, I make it home uninterrupted. Something I know to be thankful for, since I’ve seen firsthand how very easy it is to step into the line of a hungry predator and nearly become its prey.
“A bit past curfew, no?”
The sound startles me. I expect him to be at my door, ready to lecture me. He isn’t. Rhenn lies in the grass, his focus entirely on the stars while he basks in the soft glow of the twin moons.
I find myself walking toward him, rather than away. “My shift at the diner ran late.”
“And how is that going?”
“Well,” I start, sitting down and stretching my legs, “I’m no closer to getting home, if that’s what you mean.”
“That’s too bad.” Rhenn sits up, taking a drink of something before offering it to me. I should probably be more skeptical, but it seems I’m trusting him more and more because I take several sips without question.
It’s warm, leaving a cooling sensation at the back of my throat. The flavor is familiar, like spiced ginger and vanilla. “What’s in this?” I ask, examining the inside of the dark drink.
Rhenn shrugs, taking it back from me. “Rai makes it. It’s supposed to help relax you.”
My fingers run up and down my arm, the pain from the shifter’s attack no longer there. Rhenn’s venom healed not only his bites, but everything else too. No punctures. No bruises. Only the memory of his teeth, and then of his mouth…
“Does it work?”
“Nothing works,” he answers quietly, chugging the rest of it down. “You’re sad. Explain it to me.”
I wrinkle my brows at him. “I’m not sad.”
Rhenn sets down the cup, then lies back to look up at the sky again. “Fine. Explain what it’s like under the mask you put on every day.”
I look down at my hands, not liking how easily he seems to see through me. All of me wants to write him off. Lie. Go inside. But there’s something about the cool breeze of the night, the warmth of his tone. I want to open up.
“I’m not sure it’s a mask. At least, not one for others. I’ve always been…different. Pain, suffering, I hate those things. I also yearn for them. And I think it’s because I feel so deeply, but sometimes, it’s like I don’t feel at all. All I want is to be happy, to fit in somewhere, except I’m not sure I can. Something’s too messed up inside me.” I pause, taking in a shaky breath. “So, I put on the mask. I do it to pretend I’m normal, that I’m not still lost.”
It’s quiet for a minute before Rhenn shifts. “Whenever I’m around you, it’s like when it’s dark outside, except there aren’t any stars.” His hands rest over his chest, focus set on the night sky. “Everything in me is usually so quiet, but you make it so loud. I don’t know how to shut the sounds off.”
My eyes fall to the ground, and I swallow. “You want the quiet back?”
Rhenn turns to look at me, focusing on me for only a moment before looking back up. “No.”
“Do you think it ever gets better?” I ask.
He sighs, moving to stand. “Everything fades,” Rhenn tells me, then leaves my side, making his way back to his house.
