Several minutes passed in silence before she whispered, “Can I ask you something?”
The question had been weighing on her ever since she entered the hallway.
Ryker slowly lifted his head, sighing. “Yes?”
“Why do you let your mother talk to you like that? Why didn’t you tell her to stop?”
He could stand up against Tertia—he’d done it for Brynleigh the first night she’d met his mother, for the gods’ sake.
“I couldn’t.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “If I did, she’d show up here.”
Brynleigh swept her eyes over his, and her brows furrowed. “And you… don’t want that.”
“No.”
Her mouth dried. “Because of me?”
A long moment passed before he pushed back from the table. “Yes.”
She had expected that response, but the pang of hurt that lanced through her took her by surprise.
She sucked in a sharp breath and pressed a hand against her heart. “I’m sorry, Ryker.”
More apologies rose to the tip of her tongue.
Sorry for breaking us.
Sorry for ruining what we had.
Sorry for taking you away from your family.
Sorry that your sister killed mine.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Brynleigh had so many apologies that they all jammed up in her mouth. Words weren’t enough to fix this—to fix them—and she couldn’t decide which ones took precedence over the others.
Ultimately, she shook her head and repeated, “I’m so sorry.”
Ryker stared at her for a long moment before dipping his chin. “Me, too.”
Her unspoken words were so heavy that she couldn’t breathe or think. She just watched him.
He strode past her into the kitchen and grabbed a glass bottle above the fridge. He took out a cup, pouring himself a generous serving of dark amber liquid before tossing it back.
When the glass was empty, he looked up at her.
“We’re leaving as soon as the sun sets in an hour.” He placed the cup on the counter. “It would be best if you took this time to prepare yourself.”
His voice left no room for discussion, let alone apologies.
Biting her lip, Brynleigh hung her head and retreated to the bedroom.
She had one hour to figure out what the hell she would say to Jelisette.
It turnedout that an hour wasn’t enough time. When the sun dipped below the horizon, Brynleigh was no closer to knowing what to say. She had dozens of questions but not a single answer.
She’d spent the hour getting dressed and braiding her hair, hoping the repetitive movements would help calm her down.