Page 418 of Once Upon a Fable

I could be normal.

It would take a long time for me to be comfortable around people. To willingly talk and not want to give into the murderous rage to hurt before being hurt, but for now, I had Gemma.

She’d protect others from me, so I didn’t do something dangerous.

She would keep me sane.

I let my mind go quiet as her comforting voice told the doctor a story that took part truths, part lies, and made such a convincing tale, I began to believe it myself.

“I’m Gemma Ashford, and this is Kassen Sands.” Her hand squeezed mine. “We met in the national park. He, eh...he was hiking while I was looking for rock formations to climb. We joined up to, um, travel together, but he slipped off a cliff.” Her eyes flickered to mine before going back to the doctor to spin more of her fiction. “We found an abandoned house, and I, eh, treated him from his fall. He had a bad concussion. Still does. I did what I could to help, but that was a good month ago now, and he still blacks out, has occasional hallucinations, and suffers from short-term memory loss.”

The doctor looked up, his head cocked. “So, you were climbing and you...” He looked at me. “You were hiking?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I, eh...like birds.”

“Birds?” He frowned, making me fear I’d said something wrong. That I’d given away something I shouldn’t.

Fuck.

My heart pounded faster, hissing with the need to protect myself before it was too late. My hands balled.

Gem stiffened in my arms, no doubt feeling my rapidly rising pulse.

Placing a gentle hand on my shoulder, she inhaled quickly. “Actually...” She rubbed her mouth with her free hand before pinning the doctor with a determined glower. “That’s a lie.”

I jerked. “What? No, it’s—”

“Kassen isn’t his real name.”

“Gemma—”

“He was abducted when he was a child.”

“What the hell are you—”

“The house that caught fire belonged to a faction of people who terrorized and molested boys and girls. It’s been going on for decades.”

“Shut up,” I snarled. “He doesn’t need to know—”

“The fire wasn’t an accident.” Gemma totally ignored me. “And the other kids who were trapped were taken over eleven years ago to different locations.”

“Gemma, what the fuck—?”

She shook her head and held my livid stare. “I’m sorry, Kas, but I want you well. I’m sick of trying to cure you on my own. Call me selfish for wanting you healthy. Call me stupid for telling a complete stranger about your past. But I’m not going to lie because it’ll be detrimental toyour treatment. You deserve to be happy, Kas.” Her eyes glossed with tears. “I love you. Please trust me when I say...telling people is the right thing to do.”

My heart crashed, and my lungs struggled to breathe. I didn’t know if I wanted to strike her or hug her. All my life, I’d been hidden and taught to stay quiet. Now...the woman who’d ripped me from that threatening silence had just confessed my entire sordid history.

Without asking my goddamn permission.

I gritted my teeth, struggling with my rapidly building rage.

The doctor reclined in his chair, leaving his notepad on his knee as his eyebrows came down, never looking away from me. “Now, that’s quite the claim.”

“He’s been alone for a long time—”

“Gem...” I growled. “Stop it. No more. Not another damn word.”

“He’s a doctor. He won’t hurt—”