Page 29 of Mortala
My phone slips from my trembling hands, clattering against the floor. I can’t breathe. My fingers tangle in my hair as I crumple to the floor, hot tears blurring my eyes. The same eyes that watched the blood drain from my father's lifeless body without a shred of remorse.
This can’t be my father. He’s dead. He’s supposed to be dead.
Strong arms wrap around me, lifting me from the cold floor before I ever realize what’s happening. Miles places me on the bed as my anxiety crashes over me in relentless waves like an unforgiving ocean.
He’s saying something. I can see his lips moving, feel his hands trying to steady me, but his voice grows more distant with every passing second. The room blurs as the darkness closes in around my vision.
And then it swallows me whole.
11.Miles
All the doors are locked,every window is shut, and all the blinds are drawn tight. So how the hell did someone know Maddie was here? Unless they were inside the apartment…The thought plagues my mind that someone saw what was mine and there was nothing I could have done about it.
My gaze drifts back over to Maddie shaking on the bed. She’s trembling, curled in on herself as quiet whimpers slip past her lips. Her fists are tangled in her hair, her knuckles bleached white from her grip, her arms shielding her face as if to protect herself from this unseen threat.
I didn’t know it was possible to hurt this much for someone else. I fucking hate seeing her like this and not being able to do a god damn thing about it.
I need to find out who the fuck is sending her all these fucked up messages. Not just for her, I need answers almost as badly as I need to know she's safe. But I need to touch her. I need her to know that I’m here with her to fight whatever demons she’s been having to fight all on her own.
I retrieve her phone up off the floor and switch it to silent, just in case she gets any more messages before she wakes up. After plugging it into the charger on my nightstand, I carefullygather her into my arms. My hand glides slowly up and down her arm, hoping the gentle rhythm will calm the tremors still wracking her body.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, baby.” I murmur against her hair. “I’m going to find out who’s been sending you those messages, and when I do?—”
Before I can finish, Maddie jerks in my arms and whips around the face me, fear laced in her bloodshot eyes, tears streaking her beautiful face.
“No! You can’t!” I instinctively lean back a little, startled by the pure panic in her voice.
“What are you so afraid of?” I ask, keeping my voice as steady as possible. “I’ll be fine, we’ll just turn them in to the cops. They’ll handle this.”
She shakes her head so hard her curls bounce around her face. Tears continue to stream from her fire-bright eyes as she scoots away from me.
“Maddie, we can’t keep letting this asshole get inside your head like this. That shit he said about your mom…who the fuck says shit like that?”
Her eyes widen as panic floods every inch of her face. “You can’t do that! I can’t go to the cops, Miles. You don’t understand!”
“Well, help me understand, Mads!” The words come out louder than I intended, but I don't stop. “From the moment I met you, you’ve kept me at arms length. You refuse to let me in and I’m trying like hell to help you!”
She flinches, and regret hits me instantly.
Shit. I shouldn’t have raised my voice at her. She’s already fucking terrified and all I’m doing is making it worse.
Without another word, Maddie climbs out of bed, snatches up her shorts, and pulls them on in a rush.
She’s trying to leave.
Does she really think I’m going to let her leave this apartment after she just got those text messages? That crazy fuck could still be out there watching her, waiting for the moment she’s alone so he could hurt her.
“Baby, what are you doing? You can’t leave?—”
“Why?!” She spins around so fast I stop in my tracks, her eyes spitting daggers into my flesh. “You can’t fucking help me, Miles!No onecan fucking help me! I just need to get out of here. Being with you is making it worse.”
The words land like a punch to the gut. I can feel the moment my blackened heart cracks. The ice she was slowly starting to melt around my heart is freezing back over and spreading throughout my chest, and I can’t seem to stop it. Maybe I was a fucking idiot for believing things could be different with her. All I want to do is hold her, to prove she doesn’t have to bear the weight of this alone.
“You’re safe with me, Maddie. If you leave this apartment, you’re just putting yourself at risk from whoever the fuck is out there watching you.” I close the distance between us, my body towering over her small frame. Slowly, I cup her face in my hands. She stiffens at first before I feel her melt ever so slightly beneath my touch. “If you don’t want me to call the cops, I won’t. But I can’t protect you if you won’t let me in.”
I watch as her body trembles, her bottom lip quivering as I run my thumb across it. Her eyes flutter shut and the tears she’s been fighting finally spill onto my ink covered hands. Without thinking, I pull her into me and this time she lets me, resting her gorgeous head of whiskey-colored curls against my chest while she sobs.
I don’t know what she’s been through, but whatever it is, she’s too afraid to tell me about it, and I’m not about to push her for information. I need her to know that nothing from her past is going to make me change the way I feel about her. Weall have shit we want to run away from, but she doesn’t have to keep running. I’ll stand between her and every single one of the demons from her past.
