Chapter 23

Every fiber of my being rebelled against his claim. Of course it was him. It'd always been him! He'd admitted it. His rage ceased to frighten me as my own anger took precedence. "You're–"

Brady flicked his wrist, and my voice locked up in the same spell my body was under. I seethed. Inside my mind, I was screaming, bloodcurdling sounds that couldn't break free no matter how bad I wanted them to.

He stood up and left me there, turning away and walking towards the ocean, stopping just before the waves could touch his feet and staring out over the view. He loosely shook his arms out on either side of him, and his legs moved ever so slightly as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Brady must have finished whatever it was he was trying to accomplish, because when he turned back around, the glowing red eyes had gone back to dark.

His shoulders heaved when he started back towards me, and the look he held let me know he felt no shame whatsoever in holding me mute. "You need to hear me right now," he said, as if reading my thoughts. "And try to keep an open mind."

I would have snorted, but he'd somehow locked that in place too.

"I'll take your silence as agreement." He didn't smirk the way he usually did. There was no humor behind what would usually be a teasing statement from him. Brady looked anything but playful.

He lifted me up and carried me the short distance back to the bed, then gently placed me upon its surface with my back against the pillows. "Comfy?" He didn't wait for the answer I couldn't give before taking a seat by my feet.

Brady's hands continued to work their way in and out of fists, as if he were imagining himself strangling someone, but his face was blank. He stared at his lap, and I could clearly hear each controlled breath he took in through his nose. "Tell me everything you remember," he said, his voice that commanding tone that left no room for disobedience.

The words tumbled out of me like a monologue. Every memory, every terrifying occurrence, every doctors visit, every episode at school. The more I was forced to relive the pain, the more my anger with him grew. It wasn't enough that he'd caused so much heartache, he had to make me revisit it. When the emotions grew too powerful for even his spell to keep inside, each word became raw and hoarse, each breath began to shudder, and I could feel the tears threatening to escape.

Brady watched me for a full minute with an expression I couldn't decipher. "Enough," he spoke softly, hoarsely. "Enough." He gripped my ankle, and a soothing feeling settled over me like a warm blanket. My pain eased away, and euphoria took its place. I was on a cloud, floating a million miles away where nothing and no one could ever find me.

Brady buried his hands into his hair and looked back down at his lap. His muscles were tight, his posture stiff. He took a deep breath, then another, then once more. He made a sound, a rumbling echo from somewhere deep within his chest, like a growl but more.

The minutes ticked by like hours, and it felt like an eternity before he finally looked over at me and spoke. "Sweetheart." His jaw clenched. "I didn't find you until you were fifteen."

That's not true.

I stared at his torn state, his tortured expression. I took in the white knuckles of his fists and the controlled tone to his voice. He shook his head, and his jaw clenched. "I was twenty when I saw you out with your mother. You were shopping and I knew, I felt it, the moment my eyes landed on you, that you were mine. I followed you the rest of the day. Watched you as you got all dressed up. I wanted to make myself known to you, to talk to you, but you were so young." He took a deep breath in through his nose. "Then you went to that party. When that boy kissed you, I couldn't control myself. I'm sorry."

I couldn't believe him. I shouldn't. This was just another trick. A new game.

Brady once again fell silent. That dark gaze went distant as he seemingly became lost in his own thoughts. "I'm going to make it right, Sweetheart." His tone was menacing. "I'll take care of it."

The last phrase took me back to what happened with Justin, and a shiver travelled down my spine.

Brady looked over at me, and his hand made a motion that released me from his hold.

I'd planned to shout, to have a million things to say. To call him a liar. But the moment I was able to do so, no words would come.

Brady gave me a soft look and climbed up beside me. He pulled me onto my side, bringing us eye level with one another. No words were said. We just lay there, looking at each other.

A million thoughts scrambled through my mind as I stared at his inhumanly perfect face. The face of my enemy. But was it? I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore. Since his return, the monster had been different. It was a constant thing that I couldn't understand. If what Brady said was true, it would explain his change in behavior. If it wasn't Brady, then did that mean there was another Jinn? Something else out to get me? But why?

"You don't believe me," Brady spoke.

I swallowed hard. "I don't know what to believe." I looked up at his eyes. "I'm scared. I'm so tired of being afraid." I didn't know why I said it. Probably because it was the only thing I knew to be real. I was afraid. My only constant. Fear.

"You don't have to be. Not anymore." His eyes settled on my shoulder, and his fingers drifted over to lightly trace along my skin.

I let myself relax as his touch sent that same tingling sensation down my arm. Fatigue followed. The softness of the bed, combined with the events of the night, had my eyelids drooping despite my fight to keep them open.

Brady's touch moved to my cheek. "Rest." It wasn't a command, just a word, spoken so softly, my heart lurched at the sound of it.

I closed my eyes and lingered in the feel of his touch as he continued, from my neck down to my hand then back again. Despite my better judgement, I wanted to pretend for a moment that he was being honest. I wanted to be fooled. For this to be real. I wanted him to be a savior come to rescue me from the real monster still hidden away.

"Brady?" I said, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Yeah, Sweetheart." His voice was soothing. Calmer than the sounds of the ocean waves echoing in the distance.

"I want to believe you."

He was quiet for a long moment, but his hand never stopped its motion. Back and forth. So calming. So soothing. I was just about to drift off when I heard him answer, "I can deny you nothing."

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