Rogue's Passion(58)

“I really need to talk to my mother about all this. I know you’re leaving soon, but I’d like you to go with me. Maybe there’s something she remembers.”#p#分页标题#e#
Meet Olivia’s mother? It seemed like the next step in a serious relationship. One that would take it to the next level. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why? It’s important for her to hear this. She’ll have a lot of questions that I won’t have answers to.”
“You think she’d listen to me? A barbarian from Cascadia?”
“Have you forgotten that she and I have seen firsthand who the true barbarians are?”
He reached out to touch her, but thought better of it and withdrew his hand. No use making this harder than it had to be.
“I’m sorry you had such a hard time with your stepfather,” she continued. “Are you not close to your mother?”
He paced to the other side of the room and back. “I used to be, but I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
“I don’t know where I’d be today—probably dead—without my mom,” Olivia said, almost to herself. “I admit she’s a little paranoid, and for a long time, I hated her.”
“You once hated her?” They seemed to have a good relationship now. He was curious to hear how they mended things.
She got a faraway look in her eyes. “The night they took Vince and killed my father, she kept me from trying to heal him. I swear, her arms were like solid stone around me as she held me back. I didn’t understand much about my Talent then. All I knew was that I had an overwhelming urge to go to my father, to stop his life energy from ebbing away. But she wouldn’t have it. With the army there and Vince in custody, she didn’t want me to expose my Talent to them. She kept whispering in my ear that my father was already dead, that the blow to the head had killed him instantly. There was nothing I could do to bring him back.
“As we peered through the living room window at his body in a heap on the front lawn, she held me in her vise grip. And when I screamed that I wanted to help him, she slapped me across the face so hard that I saw stars. If they found out I was a Healer-Talent, they’d take me away, too, and for what? My father would have died in vain. For several years, I was resentful and rebelled. I hated her and blamed her for choosing me over my father.”
“But she didn’t, did she?” Asher asked quietly.
Olivia shook her head. “I understand my Talent better now. There wasn’t anything I could’ve done to help him. His soul had already been untethered from his body.” She exhaled slowly, lost in her thoughts. 
Putting his palms on the wall, he let his head sag between his shoulder blades. He wanted to tell her his darkest secrets. Lay his head in her lap and pour out what had happened to Jenny. Even though it had been a long time ago, the horror and guilt was still as fresh in his mind as if it were yesterday.
How could he hope to share what had happened if he couldn’t handle it himself? Several years ago, in a moment of stupidity, he’d broken down and told his family, thinking they’d provide some sort of comfort. What a huge mistake that had been. His stepfather ranted how he never should’ve gotten involved with a female from the other side of the portal. Her death was Asher’s fault. If he’d shagged her once or twice and moved on like he should have, she wouldn’t have been caught in the army’s crosshairs.
For once, his bloody stepfather had been right. Asher had let his yearning to be loved and his desire to belong cloud his better judgment. He should’ve stayed away from her. But how could he have left a pregnant Jenny to raise their child on her own? What kind of a man would he have been then?
***
The moment Olivia spotted the St. Anthony necklace on Asher’s desk, she knew this was it. He was leaving. He hadn’t taken it off since she’d put it on him the night they first met.
She found him in the garage, straddling a neon green motorcycle. Given the high fenders and nubby tires, it reminded her of the motocross bikes they’d seen at the rally, but his was sparkling clean. He turned the ignition and the throaty engine sprang to life. After adjusting his sunglasses, he reached for the grips, revved the motor a few times and zoomed out of the garage with an ease that suggested he’d done this a thousand times.
Was he planning to ride the motocross course or was he going somewhere else?
Disappointment weighed on her heart as he turned onto the highway, opposite the park entrance. He wasn’t riding the course, but she had no idea where he was going. And she’d been standing here long enough that he should’ve noticed her.