“Do you need help with anything else?” I asked because he still wasn’t talking. I knew I was awkward, but so was he, and it wasn’t great for keeping the conversations going. Remiah sighed at Haden when he shook his head without looking at me. I frowned, disappointment coursing through me. I was hoping he would ask me to stay.?
“Okay,” I whispered. Remiah's face fell when I glanced at her before waiting for Haden to say something…anything. She watched me stare at Haden, begging silently that he would ask me to stay. He didn’t. Gods, I should have just stayed hidden. Instantly, I made myself disappear.?
“What the fuck, Haden?” Remiah scolded him immediately. “She wanted you to talk to her, and you wouldn’t even look up at her. What is your problem?”?
Haden looked up at his sister before dropping his eyes to the ground.?
“You know what the problem is,” he said. “A man in my social class does not get a woman like her. I have nothing to offer her. She fed us, for fuck’s sake, because we can’t even afford to eat most days. What am I supposed to say or do? Oh hey, I think you’re really pretty. I’m poor, my father is a drunk, my mother is a spineless enabler, my house is falling apart, and I’m wearing clothes that are stained and old. My fucking boots are literally falling apart and too small.” His chest was heaving with anger and sadness. I saw the flash of that other side of him, the void as he called it, in his eyes.?“What woman, let alone a woman like her, would look at me and see anything worth loving?”
Tears fell from my eyes as I saw all the self-hatred and devastation on his face. This was different from who he was before.
“I don’t think she cares about that,” Remiah argued.?
“Yeah, well, I do.” He stared her down. “Has Mikel seen our home? Have you shown him what kind of life we have?”
She frowned, and I knew she hadn’t. Mikel and I did not care. We had everything. The only thing missing was our mate—the most important thing.?
“Exactly.” Haden closed his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry for bringing you into this. I know that Mikel will love you no matter what."
“And maybe Della will be the same for you.”
Haden didn't seem convinced.
“She should find someone better than me. A man should be able to provide for the woman he is with, and I can’t do that. I won't ever be able to.”
Lightning scattered across the sky as my emotions seeped from me. I did not like that he thought this way. I loved him before, and I love him just the same way now. Haden was everything to me.
A moment later the door to the house burst open and ricocheted off the wall, making us all flinch. A man who resembled Haden slightly swayed in the doorway. Gods, a whiff of liquor floated through the air and attacked my senses.?
“What are you two doing standing around?” he slurred. I watched both of them tense up with fear. My chest was heavy as I watched Haden step in front of his sister, protecting her from whatever he knew was coming. I could see that he trembled slightly, but he did not show it to his father.?
The man stumbled off the step, falling into the side of the house. Their mother popped out of the house and tried to help her drunk husband. But he shoved her away, causing her to fall into the woodpile. My anger surfaced immediately.?
“We finished,” Haden said.?
“There’s no way you did all of that.” His father moved toward them and looked at their work. He nodded like he was impressed, and I relaxed for a moment. I was wrong to let my guard down, though. His father spun toward Haden,backhanding him so hard he fell to the ground. He kicked him, and Haden groaned in pain.?It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to stop it.
“You are a lying little shit. You aren’t capable of doing anything that well.”?
Haden didn’t fight back. He didn’t move at all.
Fight back.?
Why was the void not saving him? His dad yanked him up by the hair, and Haden stared at him with blood running down his chin. It triggered flashes of the night he died. I shook my head as I tried to stop the images. His father raised his hand, but I was not letting him hurt him again. I stepped forward, my rage making me visible.?
Haden’s eyes widened as my eyes pulsed pure white. His father hadn’t noticed me yet, but his mother did.?
“Galen!” she warned him. He turned to me and sneered.?
“Let him go.”
His blue eyes traveled over me, confused, like maybe he was so drunk that I wasn’t real. But he was about to know how real I was when I cut his fucking hands off.
“Mind your own business, whore,” he warned.?
I tilted my head to the side and stared him down. “Drop Haden now,” I said in a menacing voice, making him shrink back slightly at my tone. He was a fucking coward.
Galen turned toward me, still gripping Haden’s hair tightly.?
