Page 266 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“What?”

“Tell me what’s not your fault. I need to hear you say it.”

She swallows hard, hesitating for a second before her shoulders droop with defeat. “What happened to you and Amaura wasn’t my fault.”

“Again.”

“What happened to you and Amaura wasn’t my fault.”

“Again, Briar.”

She inhales deeply, her voice sounding a little more sure. “What happened to you and Amaura wasn’t my fault.”

“Again, baby.”

Her lips twitch before repeating, “What happened to you and Amaura wasn’t my fault.”

I could feel my lips curving as I leaned down to kiss her. “Not your fault, Briar. Okay?”

“Not my fault.” She wraps her body around mine, pressing her face against my chest.

“I fucking love you, Briar,” I whisper with my lips against her forehead. “I need you to know that. You come to me whenever the darkness and that voice bothers you again, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise, Rurik. I’ll do whatever I can to be stronger for you. I’ll seek help, and I’ll talk to my doctor again. I promise. I want to get better for you and myself.”

“And I promise you, even in the darkest moments, I’ll be right here, holding tightly to the light,” I assure her. “I’ll be here every step of the way, guiding you.”

She looks up, places a hand over my heart, and smiles back. “And I, you.”

A couple of hours later, I could hear Briar’s breathing evenly, yet for once, the sound of her wasn’t lulling me to sleep.

I can’t.

After she confessed everything she had been hiding, I felt as though a surge of negative energy had been dumped into me, bouncing and raging within, begging for a release.

I glance over at her and sigh. Despite the weight of her confession, I'm grateful she shared everything with me. I never want her to bear the burden of that pain alone.

It’s fucking scary how, at first, she seemed like this tough, fearless, badass woman, yet beneath the surface, she's been carrying so much guilt and anguish.

The ones who openly present themselves are often the ones concealing the most.

I lean over and kiss her cheeks, smiling when her lips quirk up before turning to her side. Her breathing evens out.

“I love you, Briar,” I whisper, kissing her shoulder before gently getting off the bed.

As soon as I left the apartment, I quickly texted Drake Rogers. Briar told me that she's done with the Charons, and while I was over the moon when I heard that, it doesn't mean I won't tap into the connection when it suits me.

Like now.

My phone vibrates almost immediately, and I look.

Drake sent me the address to Briar’s uncle’s house.

I enter it on my phone’s map app — Oh, it’s only thirty minutes from here. I can visit him, then make it back in time to Briar before she wakes up.

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