Page 33 of Hart's Redemption

Josh

The scream of the timer going off ripped through the kitchen. Elijah didn’t so much as flinch. He simply stood there, his eyes silently imploring me not to push him away.

I blinked, struggling to make sense of what he’d said. A mindwalker had granted him access to my mind. Elijah Bennett had borne witness to the darkness inside of me, all the hurt and pain that had defined the first thirty-four years of my life, all the horrible things I’d done in that time.

He knows who I really am.No excuses, no half-truths, all of it.

Bile burned my esophagus. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and pushed past him.

“Josh—” The pleading in his voice set my nerves on edge.

I quickly silenced the piercing alarm and turned to face him with the island once again between us. I rested my hands on the tiled counter. When I realized they were shaking, I clenched them. “So, what you’re telling me is that you went into my mind, my innermost thoughts, and you’re justnowtelling me?” It wasimpossible to keep the bite from my words, and Elijah visibly flinched.

“I know I should have told you sooner, but every time I was going to, you just looked so…”

“Sowhat?”

“Happy. I couldn’t bear to be the one to remind you of your worst memories.”

I ground my teeth together, anger simmering in my veins. “What did you see?”

“Are you really sure you want to know? I’m almost positive you don’t remember some of them.”

I brought my hand down on the counter with a loud smack. “Damn it, Elijah. What. Did. You. See?”

His shoulders slumped in defeat. “I think you were five in the earliest memory I saw.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. He was right. That time in my life was barely more than a painful blur. I couldn’t even fathom what hid in those murky depths.

“I knew your mother was manipulative, but I had no idea she was physically abusive as well.”

My breath came out in a ragged gasp.

“The quiche is going to burn.”

With a growl, I whipped around and yanked the dish out of the oven. The heat of the scalding dish hardly registered on my bare hand. The glassware clattered on the counter as I turned back to confront Elijah. “What else?”

“You were seven or eight when she started using magic on you,” he said as he walked around the island. “She’d told you your father had abandoned you, but you didn’t want to believe it. Even in the face of such horrid lies, you were still so fierce, so strong.”

“Not strong enough.” My eyes burned with unshed tears. Try as I might to remember what he was talking about, all that cameto mind was a fog of pain my mind quickly retreated from.And Elijah had been there.

“It wasn’t all bad.” His warm hand coasted up my arm, and he gently turned me into his strong embrace.

I didn’t have the strength to fight him and sagged into his chest, desperately holding back a sob of despair. His scent swirled in my nostrils, bringing with it the comfort of a warm summer day. “I find that hard to believe,” I mumbled into the same shirt I was clinging to like a life raft.

He shrugged without letting me go. “I got to see your dad.”

I gave up my hold in order to wrap my arms around him. “What was he like?”

“Well, you look a lot like him, though I think you might be taller. You have his eyes and definitely his heart. He clearly loved you a great deal.”

“I don’t really remember him.” I burrowed in closer, tucking my head beneath his chin.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want, Josh, but I didn’t see everything. Your memories were kept behind doors. I skipped around a lot and only stopped at ones that were noticeably different or to get an idea of how close I was to the current you.”

“Anything else?”

His low chuckle vibrated through my chest while his hands rubbed my back.