Chapter 70 Seventy
DANIKA
It's impossible. Hera has to be lying. Why would Tyler's mum be a part of the cult? What does she stand to gain? A cure for Tyler?
I glance at Kaziel, waiting for him to tell me she's lying. But the look on his face sends my heart ripping in half. I feel like I'm going to throw up.
I can't breathe.
Trembling, I shoot to my feet, storming towards the door. Kaziel calls my name, but I'm too caught up in my own emotions to stop.
I shove the door open and storm down the hall. The building's cold fluorescent lights blur as my eyes sting. I push past the security doors and out into the night.
Then the tears start flowing. God, I feel pathetic like this. I pat my chest, taking small breaths to calm myself, but it is futile.
"Danika." Kaziel's voice is closer now, laced with worry.
"No...just...no." I spin around, tears already slipping down my cheeks. "Don't...don't try to calm me right now."
Kaziel freezes a few steps away, his hands half-raised.
"What if she was after me since I was a kid?" I say. "What if she's always known what I was? What if she pretended to be nice just to get close enough to—" My voice cracks painfully. "Just to get to my heart?"
Kaziel clenches his jaw, and the wind stirs intensely around us as if responding to him.
I wipe my face roughly. "Why am I even crying? I wasn't even that close to her! She wasn't–she wasn't some mother figure to me or anything. So why—" My chest tightens painfully. "Why does it hurt like this?"
He moves towards me then, slowly. Until he's right in front of me. Then he cups the back of my head gently and pulls me into his chest.
I let out a shuddering breath against him, my fists curled in his shirt.
"Dove..." he murmurs, stroking my hair with soothing strokes. "You're allowed to feel. You're allowed to be hurt."
"But why?" My voice cracks again. "Why do I feel betrayed? She wasn't even...she wasn't even someone I loved."
His thumb brushes behind my ear, easing the tension out of me. "Because she was an adult who should've protected a child. Someone you trusted enough to stand by your side turned out to be a predator."
My throat constricts as memories of Ember's smile replay themselves in my mind. I grew up trusting her. Maybe that's why it stings.
Kaziel presses a kiss to my forehead.
"I don't understand what she wants," I whisper. "Why? What did I ever do to her?"
He wraps both arms around me now, holding me tight.
"You were born powerful." He rubs my back slowly. "But I promise you, dove... whatever her reasons were, whatever comes next—"
He tips my chin up gently, so I have to meet his burning cobalt blue eyes.
"—no one touches you. No one will come near you. Not again."
I nod, desperate for an anchor to hold on to.
...
Tyler looks up the moment I walk in. Kaziel had decided to go ahead with questioning Hera after taking me to Tyler. He looks half dead, truly. His face is bruised up and swollen, with dried blood on his face. And two fingers on his left hand are mangled. He stares at me through one eye, the other swollen shut.
"Cakes," he croaks, and I clench my fists.
"You are quite shameless, you know that, right?" I hiss, and he smiles weakly.
"You will always be shortcake to me, Dani," he breathes, and anger sizzles inside of me. The nerve of this bastard.
"You—"
"I know what it looks like. But I have never thought of harming a single hair on your head. To be honest, I still love you. I think I realized that too late," he rasps, and I blink at him, curling my hands into fists.
"Ty—"
He coughs hard, his face twisted in anguish.
"Let me talk, please. You came here for answers, didn't you?" He says, and I stare at him for a moment, torn.
"Fine. Talk." I fold my arms across my chest.
Tyler exhales shakily, his bruised ribs trembling with each breath he takes.
"When we were kids..." He winces, swallowing. "Dani, you were my whole world."
I stiffen, but he presses on.
"You remember when you were little? You had those chubby cheeks that were always so adorable," he says with a ghost of a smile. "You used to puff them up when you got angry. I swear, I lived for that."
I blink hard, the memories flashing—mud pies, playground swings, and him carrying my backpack because I said it was too heavy.
"And your eyes," he whispers. "They have always been so big and soft and... curious. You always had this surprised look on your face."
His voice cracks.
"And your smile. Sue me, I chased that smile like it was oxygen."
Something cold stirs in my chest. I tighten my arms across myself.
"Tyler—"
"Let me finish." His mangled hand twitches against the restraints. "I loved you so much it scared the hell out of me. And when I got diagnosed...when they told me it was terminal...I told myself I couldn't let you fall for me. I couldn't be the boy who made you cry."
I swallow hard.
"So I tried to bury it. I tried so damn hard."
His one open eye glistens.
"And then Hera came along. But she wasn't you." His voice turns hoarse. "She was nothing like you. She was... loud and selfish and reckless, and... she made it easy not to feel what I felt for you."
My heart sinks like a stone, tears blurring my vision.
"She made me think I could forget you," he whispers. "I deluded myself into thinking I had moved on. But I hadn't. Not even close."
I look away, wiping at my wet cheek. The air feels too heavy.
"Why didn't you tell me about your mum and the cult?" I whisper. He stiffens, shock exploding across his features. Then his face contorts with agony.
"Because I knew what they wanted." His voice is barely even a whisper now. "Your heart."
My throat goes tight.
"And, Dani... I swear to you on my life, I've been stalling them for years. With every excuse and every fucking delay...it was me trying to protect you."
"You expect me to believe—"
"I NEVER wanted your heart!" he snaps, as much as his battered body allows. "I wanted you alive. I wanted you safe."
I freeze.
Tears roll down Tyler's face, and he bites back a sob.
"I drank that poison when we were twelve because it was meant for you."
I freeze, every muscle in my body going rigid.
"You—you what?"
He nods, his jaw clenched. It feels like I've just been stabbed in the chest.
"It was in the juice my mum gave us that day. I saw the mark under the cup. You didn't. I switched them." He flashes me a painful, trembling smile. "I saved you and...ruined myself."
Memories flash in my mind's eye. I remember it now. The day he suddenly collapsed, the weeks he spent in the hospital, and Ember's tight smile as she told me he would recover.
Oh my God.
"Tyler..." My voice cracks.
"And as for the wraith," he whispers, "I didn't summon it. I swear. Danika, I found your handkerchief at my place. You left it that night you came for me. Hera must have taken it. She was snooping a lot. Too much. I should've noticed."
My stomach rolls. All along...I was...wrong about him?
He lets out a shaky breath, blinking through the swelling.
"I never betrayed you, Cakes. Not once. I messed up in a thousand ways, but... hurting you? I could never. Not even on my worst day."
My heartbeat hammers painfully loud.
"I'm sorry," he whispers. "For everything I didn't say. For everything I ruined. For not being strong enough to protect you from them."
He lowers his head, more tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I loved you, Cakes. I still do, in a way I can't unlearn. And if they kill me for saying this, it's fine. But I won't let you walk out of here thinking I ever wanted to be your enemy."
I stare at him. At the bruises, the mangled fingers, and the boy I used to know hiding inside this broken, bleeding shell.
My chest hurts.
So, I hurry out of the room just in time for me to break down into sobs. What have I done?
I'm ugly crying, feeling like I'm going to die from the suffocating pressure in my lungs. And I think of every single time I pushed him away. He's dying, and it's all my fault. I ruined his life.
Suddenly, I'm coughing hard.
"Kaz—" My voice becomes unrecognizable mid-sound.
I stumble, one hand braced against the cold hallway wall, the other pressed over my mouth. Another cough racks through me, doubling me over.
Something warm drips onto my palm.
No. No. No.
My hand trembles as I pull it into view.
Blood.
My breathing quickens.
"No... no, no—" My voice breaks into a raw, panicked rasp.
And everything spins.