His voice was so calm. So certain. He might as well have been telling her that the sky was blue.
It was like this was just another workday for Ryker, and he wasn’t delivering life-altering news that would forever change how Brynleigh saw the world.
Some of her light-headedness abated, giving way to anger instead. Why was he doing this? Was it a trick?
“How do you know?” She narrowed her eyes. “What proof do you have?”
She refused to accept that this was real. Somehow, he had to be lying.
He raised a brow. “You want proof?”
It wasn’t a want. Brynleigh wanted many things—for this to be over, for them to return to the way they were, for her heart to stop aching—but this was different. She needed it.
“Yes.”
“Alright.” He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and slid it across the coffee table. He inched back his fingers before she could touch him.
Trying not to show how much the action hurt, Brynleigh drew the phone towards her.
An old, grainy picture filled the screen. She put her fingers in the middle and pulled them apart, zooming in. The date stamp on the bottom right corner was from several centuries ago.
She scrolled up to the two people frozen in time. Her mind stalled, unwilling to accept what she saw.
This was… impossible.
And yet, she was staring at it. It was as real as the rug beneath her feet.
“Tell me what you see,” Ryker requested, his voice softer than it had been all day.
It was as if he knew this was turning her world upside down. But how could he know? And why did he even care?
Questions for a later time, when her world wasn’t imploding.
She swallowed. “I… it’s a picture.”
“Of what?” he probed.
Her gaze dropped back to the phone.
“I mean… at first glance, it’s a snapshot of a couple enamored with each other.” An aura of happiness surrounded the pair. Even through the screen, it seemed infectious. “Like they’re living in their own little bubble.”
He nodded, his expression gentle. That was almost worse than the earlier harshness.
“And when you look closer? What do you see?”
Brynleigh hated that he was forcing her to confront the truth.
Tapping the picture, she frowned.
“This is Jelisette.” Her Maker looked nearly identical to the way she did now. “Except… she’s smiling. I’ve never seen her do that.”
Not only that, but Brynleigh had never seen Jelisette without long sleeves or gloves. In this picture, she wore a bright sundress, and her arms were bare. Her chestnut hair was in a high ponytail, and there seemed to be a bounce in her step.
Brynleigh couldn’t be sure from this angle, but it looked like the couple was holding hands.
“What about the man?” Ryker’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Do you recognize him?”
“No, I’ve never seen him before.” She would have remembered a man like this.