Quicksilver Dreams(159)

                “She called to me and I answered. She wanted you to stop torturing yourself.”

                “Taylor.”

                “Your family has torn itself apart with grief. That’s what hurts her.”

                “No,” Ryder whispered gruffly. He turned away, his head hung with emotion. “You took me to her. I saw her. She was beautiful. I...remember.”

                “She wanted your family to heal.”

                When he turned back, his eyes were bright with moisture but gave nothing else away. There was nothing he could say.

                “I’ll take you home.”

                Home? This was it? Brief hope had sprung in a secret place in my soul that giving Asily back to him would change things, make him see that I was still...me. It hadn’t. I was his enemy.

                The anger, the hot feeling of betrayal, was surprising. I’d done nothing wrong. I’d put myself out there, ripped open my heart to show him my sincerity, and it hadn’t mattered. I didn’t really matter. That was the bottom line.

                I closed my shop, reinforced my mental walls and let my head drop. There was nothing more to say.

                Yes. It was time to go home.

                After all, I was part animal to him now.

                You know there is more left to do?

                “I know, Dreya,” I whispered. “It seems there is always more to do. Please be safe. Goodbye.”

                We’ll meet again, love. Hold on to your strength and courage. You received those traits from both your mother and your father.

                A dry sob threatened. In a choked voice I said, “Thank you.”

                With new resolve, I bent to pick up my mother’s charms. They were truly precious to me. The thought of leaving even one behind was abhorrent, but I knew I wouldn’t find them all.

                After a moment of watching me crawl, Ryder bent to help, and I snarled at him, “Don’t touch her things,” which caught him by surprise. I grabbed what I could see immediately and held the charms tightly to my heart as I stood.

                “Taylor...” Ryder looked at me but was unable to speak.

                “Take me home,” I said coldly.





Chapter Sixteen

                And though I was heading back from another planet, which was weird enough to be able to say, my surreal, wild ride was not yet coming to a halt.

                First, I tried to request Cynthia for the ride back, but Ryder insisted on taking responsibility for me, which was all he said to me as I gathered my clothing and my purse, not wanting to leave anything of me behind. I even offered to give him the blasted mylunate off my toe, but with a carefully blank face, he just looked at me in silence and told me to hold on to it, given the danger of the situation I was in. The transfer itself was less dramatic, as I was expecting the strange suffocating sensations. I worked hard to remain passive in his strong arms as he clasped me during the process.

                I thought I might have felt a whisper of his lips on top of my head, but I figured it was just fanciful thinking, and because thinking about never being close to Ryder again was making my lungs seize and my body want to expel the ball of hurt through a crying jag, I had to push it all away. No way was I going to give him that. Not again.