Page 66 of A Game of Love and Betrayal

Ryker’s chest burned, and he rubbed his heart. “A few years after my sister was born, Dad was infected with the Stillness. He’s alive, but…”

A lump rose in Ryker’s throat, and his voice trailed off. His unspoken words hung in the air between them. Not for long.

The Stillness was a deadly, incurable sickness. It only affected fae, and no one knew where it came from. There was no surviving it. The Stillness ate away at the victim’s body, slowly stealing their ability to move. The best medical care on the continent could not stop its deadly advance.

Ryker had been watching his father slowly die for the better part of two decades.

“I’m so sorry, Ryker.” Brynleigh’s voice cracked, and silence stretched between them for several minutes. “Losing your family is an indescribable kind of pain. Mine… They passed away.”

His heart squeezed. They both knew grief intimately. It was a thread weaving them together, drawing them closer than before.

He hated that she understood where he was coming from. Hated that they had this in common. Hated that she, too, had probably had sleepless nights and exhausting days filled with tears. He remembered their date when they had remained silent, sitting in grief.

By the Sands, he wished he could remove that pain from Brynleigh. There were no words that could describe the absolute, soul-shattering agony that was grief. No real way to explain the emptiness that sometimes settled within him when he remembered his father’s illness. He knew words were often empty, and platitudes didn’t get people far.

Ryker understood all this about grief, so he didn’t offer Brynleigh meaningless words. Instead, he shook his head. “I’m sorry for your loss, Brynleigh.”

Truer words had never been spoken. He would never wish the kind of melancholy sorrow that grief cultivated on anyone, let alone the woman he was falling in love with.

Minutes passed in heavy silence.

Ryker mourned. Not only for his father and the man he used to be but for the relationship they’d once shared. The ever-present pain throbbed in his chest, but today, something was different. Maybe it was because he’d shared with Brynleigh, or maybe it was something else, but it wasn’t as acute as normal.

And so, when Brynleigh quietly asked him to tell her about his family, he did. He closed his eyes and shared stories he’d never spoken aloud.

He talked for hours, and Brynleigh listened. It meant more to him than he could ever put into words.

That day, they didn’t play chess or laugh again, but when Celeste announced their date was ending, Ryker had made up his mind.

Brynleigh de la Point would be his bride because there was no way he was letting this vampire go.

She was his, even if she didn’t know it yet.

CHAPTER 17

Rule Number Eight

Three days later, Brynleigh stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself before applying a fresh face of makeup. She was getting ready for a date, and she felt…

Nothing.

Brynleigh felt nothing because she refused to let herself experience emotions right now.

Rule number eight: emotions are for mortals, not vampires.

The day she’d returned from the library when Ryker had shared about his father, she had shoved all her feelings deep in her soul and locked them tightly away. She would never let them out.

It was easier this way.

If she were emotionless, then Ryker’s words wouldn’t affect her. His kindness wouldn’t affect her. His grief over his father’s illness wouldn’t touch her heart. It couldn’t. After all, the Choosing was almost over.

She was so close. Today, they weren’t meeting in the library. Following an old tradition, the men had planned blind one-on-one dates with a partner of their choice.

If Brynleigh had allowed herself to feel emotions, her stomach would have been in knots. But it wasn’t because she was numb. A blank slate. A weapon of death, nothing more.

Brynleigh was confident Ryker would invite her on his date. After all, he was enamored with her.

And Brynleigh?

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