Page 99 of The Ripper

“Yes, and she agreed to keep the baby on the condition that I would be taken away immediately after birth and that she would never have to see me or him ever again.”

“Oh, God,” she flinched. “I mean, I understand her reasons, but you were not to blame for your father’s sins,” she looked at me as I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair.

“Don’t we all answer for our parents’ sins in one way or another?”

She seemed to weigh my words and swallowed, her eyes dropping to the floor for a second, but before I could ask what the hesitation was about, she looked back up.

“No. His actions don’t define you. Tell me you’re not blaming yourself for what happened to her.”

“I don’t, but sometimes I wonder how my life would have been had she been in it. I envied Klaus when we were little for the fact that he had a mother, and while Amaliya treated me like her own child, I hated that his mother loved him and mine didn’t even want to look at me before she gave me away.”

She seemed to think deeply about something before she jumped off the counter and hugged me, gluing her naked body to mine.

“You know, in a way, my mother was the woman who brought you into my life,” I snorted, wrapping my arms around her.

“What do you mean?”

“Willow is my half-sister,” I admitted. “I was looking out for her when I first noticed you, so I don’t regret that the woman who gave birth to me never loved me, because it brought me to you.”

She shook her head, a light smile brightening her face as she looked up at me.

“You don’t need her love, Grimm,” she whispered as she held me captive in the depths of her green eyes. “Because you have mine, and if I am being honest with myself, I think you had it from the moment I saw you at the airport nine years ago, because I searched for you in every man I ever dated, hoping I could feel the same thing for someone else because I couldn’t get to you. It happened again on the plane, when you sent the same shock of electricity through my body as the guy in the Grim Reaper costume did. I think I loved you then, I know I love you now, and I promise to love you for all the years you didn’t know what love felt like.”

~ She loves us.

~ She loves me.

~ Same shit, genius. I am you.

My heart leapt in my chest, and the air got stuck in my lungs, not wanting to come out. Those three little words, spoken by the only person I ever wanted to hear them from, melted me to my core.

I was awestruck.

I cupped her face in my palms and struggled to find the right words to form a coherent sentence, because her declaration turned me to dust.

“I burn for you,” I whispered over her lips.

If there was a God up there, I sure as fuck hoped he would keep those hunting her out of my path, because I was going to unleash hell upon all of them.

CHAPTER 19

GHOSTS OF THE PAST

ARELLA

I was lying in his arms in the bathtub, while he hummed a Russian lullaby and washed my hair, and I felt more at home than anywhere, ever.

I wondered why he did all these gentle things that were completely at odds with his personality, because sometimes they seemed to take a lot out of him, almost as if there was a voice inside his head that tried to actively deny the actions his heart dictated.

I didn’t know if Grimm opening up to me about his mother was meant to get me to tell him about my past, but it didn’t matter, because I wasn’t going to open that can of worms, even if they multiplied until they spilled out.

“Feeling better?” he asked as he rinsed my hair, his long fingers massaging my scalp in the most relaxing way possible.

“Yeah,” I hummed, leaning into his touch. “Your hands are magical.”

I could feel his grin, even though I couldn’t see his face. “These hands?” He chuckled as he pushed his arms forward so I could look at them.

I laughed at his arrogance, and for the first time, I was able to analyze the hands that held me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

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