Rise [Bruno Mars]

Chapter thirty-four

Chapter thirty-four

“Don't go after him.” Bruno tightened his grip on my shoulder as I got to my feet, staring after Joseph who'd long melted into shadow. 

As if he could avoid his past. 

Feeling the first tug of anger, I twitched my shoulder so Bruno's hand hung in midair. He's not like you. “He won't hurt me.”

It only took one look at the pain sweeping across his features to realize he understood completely. His hand fell away to his side. “Go, then. But five minutes, five minutes and I'm going after you.”

“I'm not going anywhere.” I hoped.

He shrugged and spun away. “Just-do whatever, Adrian.”

“Hey.” I stepped in front of him. “It'll only take a second, okay?”

He looked at me, and I saw his rising anger dim. He gave one abrupt nod. “All right. All right.” I took a long second to stare at him, to ensure that everything was really all right, and ignoring him, ignoring the tight emotion churning in my stomach, I focused on the fire scarcely glowing in front of us. My mind quieted. The tether became louder, a separate, eternal entity of my mind. I reached for it and came to stand in front of Joseph in an ordinary section of the woods. He seemed to have been waiting.

“I thought I couldn't come to you.” 

“We have thought a lot of things.”

He didn't sound angry, which was not unexpected. Joseph's emotions came and left in flickers.

“I thought I could. . .” Steal. Get. Take. I shamefully discarded those choices of words. “See. I thought I could see that particular memory. I was wrong. I'm sorry for that. But—I do deserve to know the truth.”

“Deserving.” He ran his touch across a bush's leaves, favoring them. “I believe you right, Adrian. You deserve all that you desire and if I have it in my power, I will give it to you. However telling you what happened in the shed will end both our lives. I advise not to make me tell you.”

Possibilities spun in my head, creating a web of nothing that made sense. What had happened? And what threatened our lives? I sighed in defeat. “I won't, then. Just know I thought you to be the last person to ever keep something from me.”

“Then we are fair. I thought you to be the last person to take something from me.”

Another tug, this time fiercer. It occurred to me how little I knew about Joseph. I took a step closer to him. “You can talk to me.”

“You want to know the truth of me.”

“Because I care.” I saw him tense, how my words affected him. “And am I knowing the truth of you, or the truth of Josephine?”

A shadow passed over his face. “All you desire to know is in what you have. . . seen.”

“I want you to tell me.”

Suddenly the space between us closed, and his breath offered the scent of rich earth. “I will not-” his voice was cool and articulate, "ease your guilt, Adrian. Remember I always know what rests in here." He placed his hand flat over my heart. “It's a waste to try and hide it from me.”