From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in The Dissonance Series

What's Left Unspoken

I walk so fast and furious that it's as if my legs aren't attached to my body. They move at a pace, the rest of me can barely keep up with. I'm so stupid. Why didn't I realize this sooner? What have I been waiting for? My mind swirls with questions, the most troubling of which: what if he's not there?

I bang loudly on his door. No one answers. I bang again, louder this time.

"I know you're in there," I shout, even though I don't know, but I'm placing my bets on the fact that he's hoping that I'll go away. I bang again and this time I don't stop.

Suddenly I hear feet shuffling towards the door as it slides open.

"Jesus, Ever," Wyler says. "Are you trying to wake up the whole neighborhood?"

"If that's what it takes," I say as I push past him.

The door slides shut behind me. He's shirtless, wearing nothing but navy blue sweatpants. His hair is wet. He must have just gotten out of the shower.

"Where have you been?" I ask angrily, trying to ignore the beads of water dripping down his muscular torso.

"Around."

"Around? Are you kidding me?!"

He folds his arms across his chest, biceps bulging, and remains silent.

"Okay, so that's how you want to play this? Well, I just thought you should know that I won't be home tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. I'll be living with Cassius Tarquin, as his..." I can't bring myself to finish the sentence.

"As his what, Ever?" He asks crossly, unfolding his arms and stepping closer.

"It was part of the arrangement I made to convince him to release the Unwanteds."

"Dammit, I knew you did something stupid."

"Stupid? Are you serious?! Stupid would have been leaving them down there to be tortured and experimented on."

"Do you really think that's going to stop Tarquin? I never should have told you."

"I guess not. And given that you're pretty good at keeping secrets from me, I'm surprised that you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I wish that you had never told me that I was a 'job' and I definitely wish that you'd never told me that I was more than just a 'job' and that you have feelings for me!"

"Why?" Again, he moves closer and my breathing quickens.

"Because it would have made this all a lot easier if I hadn't known!" My emotions overwhelm me and my eyes fill with tears.

"What do you want from me, Ever?" He shrugs with annoyance.

"How about the truth? Like why you've been avoiding me?"

"You know why." The amber flecks in his eyes spark and he turns his head away from me, trying to hide his feelings.

"Yeah, but I need to hear you say it."

"God, you're so stubborn." He looks back at me, and it feels as if the amber in his irises might consume the entirety of his eyes.

"I thought that's what you liked about me," I quip, wiping my tears with the palm of my hand.

"No Ever, it's what I love about you. Is that what you want to hear? That I love you?! Because I do." He stops yelling, as if he didn't realize he was going to say it. "I always have," he adds more gently this time. His chest heaves in and out, muscles convulsing with the heaviness of his breathing. If Rona were here, I'm sure she'd sense my heart rate skyrocketing, skip the pleasantries and head straight to calling an ambulance.

I want to tell him that I love him. But I don't say a word. Instead I pull his face to mine. I press my lips to his and I spend the night telling him with my body, the things I'm too afraid to speak.