Chapter 145: Grace
We all stared at Maizie for a long moment, the silence hanging heavily between us. Could that be truth? I never knew my mother... I hardly knew my father. Had a been lied to my whole life?
“Well, what do you think?” Rhys asked, breaking the silence, looking directly at Maizie.
The younger girl shrugged looking nonchalant as ever. I wish I could just not care about life as much as she did.
“I don’t know. But I would guess in utero experiences since experiments seem to be a thing with them, but your story doesn’t add up. Like I don’t know what exactly about your story doesn’t add up, but something doesn’t.”
I nodded. I was beginning to believe that I knew nothing at all.
“Well, that’s a tomorrow problem.” Rhys said when I didn’t say anything. “Go to bed everyone. Tomorrow will give us enough grief. We don’t need to deal with this tonight. Tomorrow we dive into whatever this theory is.”
Everyone nodded and slowly dispersed, but Rhys and I didn’t move. I placed my hands on the counter and leaned on it for support. I was exhausted. Every bone in my body was tired. How could all of what had happened, happened in a matter of 24 hours? It was like every time I got my feet under me, the ground shook again.
“Talk to me, Grace,” Rhys pleaded once everyone had left.
“What am I supposed to say?” I asked tiredly.
He reached out and ran his thumb over my cheek.
“Whatever your head is telling you.” He answered gently.
“My head is telling me to go to sleep. And truly make this a tomorrow problem.” I told him uncertainly before whispering. “I’m so tired, Rhys.”
“I know, love,” He whispered, wrapping his arms around me in a protective and comforting embrace. “I know.”
“Can we go to bed?” I asked quietly.
“We can do anything you want,” He answered, kissing my cheek.
I sighed and let him guide me away. There really wasn’t anything to say right now. Talking had never been an option for me before. My go to was always silence. It wasn’t personal, it’s just that old habits die hard. But right now, it wasn’t that either. Or maybe it was. I don’t know. There was nothing in my head. No thoughts. I was running on empty.
When we got to our room, Rhys guided me right to the bed and forced me to sit down, but then he walked away for a moment. He came back holding something, then knelt in front of me.
I gave him a questioning look. I really wasn’t in the mood for anything sexual tonight. I just didn’t have it in me to care. But Rhys surprised me, gently just taking my shoes off.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he then tugged at my pant legs.
“Getting you ready for bed.” He answered simply.
“I’m really not in the mood -”
“Gracie-”
“Rhys, really... I’m not-”
“Gracie,” He interrupted. “I know, love. I know. This is just getting ready for bed.”
“...Really?”
I thought he’d be mad, but he chuckled, surprising me. “I promise, Grace. This is just getting ready for bed.”
I yawned, letting him move me around like a rag doll. I had nothing left to give. I wasn’t sure I’d ever have anything to give ever again.
I laid down and let the bed swallow me whole. Rhys moved to his side and stripped off his clothes, and I stared at his fine body. His abs had my whole attention. God, this man was so handsome. And he was all mine. He climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up, wrapping me in it and his arms all in one motion.
“Hi.” I whispered, turning into him.
“Hi.” He whispered back.
“Thanks for being here.” I told him. “Thanks for always being here.”
He gave me a little squeeze, entangling his fingers in my hair.
“I will always be here for you, Grace. Always.”
I closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion take over. But sleep didn’t come easily... Rhys’ steady breaths beside me told me that he was asleep. But I laid there for several hours, a voice in the back of my head nagging me a little, but about what I couldn’t figure out.
Eventually I drifted off. My dreams weird and lacking any sense, but also so real. There was a lady in a grey dress who looked vaguely familiar to me. Her eyes were a dark brown and her hair was a chocolate color. She was dressed simply, but she was beautiful.
She was saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear her. It was like my ears were ringing and she was speaking another language. There was no sound, but I got the feeling that she was telling me to run. I looked around in the dream, but I saw no danger. We were standing in a field of tall grass and wildflowers. There was nothing around us, and I felt safe, so I didn’t understand.
I woke up from the dream, my heart racing. Rhys’ steady breathing still beside me. The moon and stars could still be seen outside our window. I tried to steady my own breathing. It was just a dream after all. But there was also something about it that made me feel uneasy. I had some version of the dream three different times before I finally gave up on sleeping.
I placed my hand on Rhys’ chest, using his heartbeat to steady myself. I had no reason to run. I was as safe here as I would be anywhere. Adrian and his people were coming for me, but I had people who loved me and wouldn’t let them just take me back. I would be their Queen Luna one day. Probably sometime soon. There was so much to learn. So much to figure out. But I would do it. I was not a afraid of a little hard work.
A pounding on the door, pulled me out of my thoughts, and my heart started to pound again as Rhys stirred next me. Oh god, they’ve come for me already. I should have listened to the dream. This was just like what had happened the night I had killed Ethan, and that had me fucking spiraling.