Deianira woke up a few hours later to an empty bed. Instantly, her heart sank. She didn’t think that he’d actually leave. Not after what they’d just done. Maybe, it didn’t mean that much to him, her mind told her. She didn’t know why that thought hurt so much, only that it made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. She wanted to scold herself for being so pathetic.
Sitting up, she clutched the sheets to her chest, a sob readied in her throat, when she saw Cade standing at her desk. Donned in his slacks, his was back to her.
Her heart unclenched. That was until he turned around and she caught the look on his face. Those shimmery green eyes were dull and red, filled with unshed tears. That cheeky smile was nowhere to be found. He looked distraught. No; broken.
Concerned, Deianira wrapped the covers around herself and ran to him. She had something special in store for whoever put that look on his face. As soon as she raised a hand to his cheek, he stepped out of her embrace.
A cold shot of rejection shot through Deianira. What the hell happened? He was fine only hours ago. Or maybe he wasn’t fine before. Maybe it was all an act. That thought had ice threatening to fill her veins.
Would he really…
Her eyes caught something on her desk. ‘SAMBOR, GRACE.’ ‘HADRICK, ELIZA.’ Deianira closed her eyes before she could read any further. I should’ve told him.
The guilt and the memories had been eating away at her for years and she just wasn’t ready to see Cade look at her like she was a monster. She wanted to live in the fantasy for a little longer. Deianira knew it was wrong. She knew it wasn’t fair, but sometimes when Cade looked at her, she felt weightless. She didn’t want to come down yet.
Opening her eyes, she realized that the Cade standing in front of her was one she’d never seen before. The anguish and despair were gone and replaced by pure, hot rage. When he spoke, it was so quiet and so low that she almost didn’t recognize his voice. She was almost afraid.
Cade took a step forward, leaning close. “Why do you have a picture of my mother under the name Eliza Hadrick, and who the hell is Grace Sambor?”
There was no more waiting. She had to tell him the truth. The whole truth. So she did.
“Eliza Hadrick was her name before she met your father,” Deianira whispered, not meeting his eyes. When all she heard was the hitch in his breath, she continued. “A very long time ago, I had a servant named Grace. She was much more to me though, she became one of my closest friends. One night, just like you did, she came to me, hysterical, and told me that her wife had died in their home. She wasn’t sick, it was an accident. Unexpected. Her wife was an empath named Eliza Hadrick and I had met her on a few occasions. She was a wonderful lady, a teacher, but none of that mattered,” Deianira hiccuped. “Because at the moment, I couldn’t say no to Grace. I had never restored anybody until that day and…”
Her voice broke with a sob. “I-I tried my best, I swear to the Gods, Cade, I did. But restoration is unstable and when she woke up, she didn’t remember a thing about her life.” Her eyes fell closed again as she shook her head. “Not her wife, not her job, not even parts of herself.” She inhaled. “Grace was heartbroken. She tried to keep it together but Eliza must’ve been overwhelmed because she ran away some time later. From that day, it was like Grace became a ghost.”
Risking a glance at Cade, those glaring eyes were still on her. He hadn’t moved an inch. He didn’t even try to speak to her, to embrace her. Oh, Gods… She’d ruined it. Deianira didn’t even try to tamp down her cries as she told him the rest.
“She wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep. I only managed to keep tabs on Eliza for a few years. Then, she just disappeared.” Her voice was so quiet, it was only for the silence in the room that Cade could hear her. “Grace quit her job here and started spiraling. She wasn’t herself, she started drinking. I had to pull rank to get her out of trouble with the law countless times. Eventually, she fell pregnant. A baby girl. She wouldn’t tell me who the father was, wouldn’t let me help her. She started getting visions that someone was going to hurt her baby and she was becoming paranoid. I knew it was Eliza’s absence that pushed her off the edge so I had her admitted to the Haven just before she gave birth. I just didn’t want her to hurt her baby or herself.” Deianira’s chest heaved. This was the part she blamed herself for the most. “About a week after she gave birth, the baby went missing. Grace wouldn’t tell me what she’d done, only that she’d protected her, and I had no idea what had happened until Eulalia showed up here with your brother.”
Deianira’s shoulders silently shook as she waited for Cade to speak. She stood there, raw and open.
“I wanted to tell you…” Deianira started, only to be cut off.
“Then why didn’t you?” The thick rasp in his voice startled her.
“I…” she shook her head. He wouldn’t get it.
“So, you knew I was gifted too?”
“I’m sorry…” she gasped, and apparently, that was all Cade needed.
His laugh was empty and harsh as he aggressively swiped a hand over his eyes.
“My mother died in my arms, ten years ago. She’d just given birth to my baby brother, who never even got the chance to live. Stillborn.” He shook his head, cruelly. “In my head, she’s already gone. She has been for a long time. But Lia’s mother is alive. She’s been here for weeks and you’ve said nothing.”
“I’m so sorry…”
That only seemed to anger Cade more as he brought his face closer to hers.
“Stop it!” he bellowed, hands shaking. “You don’t get to be sorry!”
He turned away from her for a second and came roaring back. “She was three weeks old!” Deianira flinched. “She lived in a crappy building for fifteen years, surviving off of whatever scraps my mother could sneak to her. And she never once complained. I may have had a crappy father, but she had nothing. Absolutely nothing!” Cade shook his head, chest rising and falling. “This would’ve been everything to her.” He backed up slightly. “I might be able to forgive you for keeping this memory of my mother from me. But I will never forgive you for taking this from her.” He gestured to the files.
Cade backed up and she watched as he grabbed his shirt off the floor before slipping it on. Deianira had fought men, beasts, looked into the eyes of death itself, but she had never been more scared than she was right now.
Please, don’t leave. That’s what she wanted to say. But the next words that came out of her mouth were more selfish than any she’d ever muttered.
“Do you love her?” she rasped into the dead room. She didn’t need to elaborate. He knew she was talking about Lia. Cade stopped and turned to look at her. Very slowly. His lips were parted with shock.
“Are you seriously that stupid?” he asked, shaking his head with utter disbelief. Deianira didn’t know whether to be offended or confused. He advanced towards her. “No, seriously, are you that blinded by your own deception that you can’t see what’s right in front of you?” he said, his hands forward and pressed flat together, voice growing louder.
She remained silent, still not understanding. What am I meant to see?
“DEIANIRA, I LOVE YOU!” he bellowed. Her blood stilled. “I came to this stupid ball and borrowed your scary uncle’s suit FOR YOU! I dragged myself out of bed at three in the morning every day so you could kick my ass, just to spend time WITH YOU! I am here, right now, because I LOVE YOU!” Every word was laced with hurt. “But you couldn’t even…” He sounded like he was in physical pain. “She was my mom, Deianira,” he choked out quietly.
She wanted to crumble just watching how much her actions had hurt. Eliza wasn’t just Grace’s wife to him, she was his mom. If Deianira could learn more about her parents, she’d jump at the chance. She hadn’t seen them in over a hundred years. But Cade’s wound was fresh. She could’ve given him something beautiful but she kept it to herself out of selfishness, because she wanted to keep him.
Cade must’ve mistook her silence for lack of caring because he watched her, standing still for a few more moments, before shaking his head and making for the door.
He loved her. The possibility hadn’t even crossed Deianira’s mind. Well, whatever he’d previously felt for her was gone now. She’d done it. Cade was right, it did take more than a few drunk words to make him hate her. She just didn’t know that it would happen so soon, that it would hurt this bad. That it would feel like her heart was trying to crawl out of her chest.
Each step that he took away from her felt like a punch to the gut. She wanted to stop him, to tell him that she loved him too, that she’d never loved anyone like she loved him. But the second she stepped out from her spot, a crippling bolt of pain brought her to her knees and she watched him walk out of the door without a backward glance.
Blood.
Cade! She tried to shout.
So much blood.
No, no, no, not now.
“What have you done?”
Gods, please, not now.
