Page 47 of Fallen from the Stars

Eyes wide, she briefly met his gaze before looking down again. “That’s amazing.”

You are amazing, Theodora.

Her teeth caught her lower lip as she tilted her head, and a lock of her hair brushed his arm. She cleared her throat softly and pulled her hand away. Her mouth dipped into a slight frown. “You’ll have moments of…relapse, and they might make you feel powerless, but you’re not. You can overcome them.” Twisting away from him, she returned the device to its case. “I do.”

Though she’d removed her hand, the once-gentle pressure on his chest built to something uncomfortable. He felt the connection between them closing, felt her erecting barricades around her heart, and he wanted to roar in protest. He longed to draw her against him, to hold her, protect her, and tear apart anyone or anything that sought to do her harm — because she washis. He’d accept no walls between them.

He and Theo would quiet the ghosts of each other’s pasts.

She replaced the other supplies she’d taken out of the box, closed the lid, and stood up. When she turned to move away from him, he caught her wrist.

Halting, Theo stared at him in surprise.

“Do not close me out, Theodora.” He stroked the tender skin of her wrist with the pad of his thumb. “Not when youjustlet me in.”

Her eyes fell to the hand on her wrist, her inner conflict written upon her face. After several moments, she tugged her arm, and Vasil released her with great reluctance. Silence stretched between them as she returned the case to the storage area.

Vasil clenched his hands and gritted his teeth, shifting his gaze to look outside.

Twilight had settled over land and sea, dragging the world toward full night, and the storm had only intensified with the growing darkness. Soon, the vegetation would be reduced to thrashing shadows, the angry ocean to roiling, impenetrable black.

“Kane, turn off the lights,” Theo said.

Her voice called Vasil’s attention back to her as she moved to the seat beside him. She plucked the blanket off the back of the chair, wrapped it around her shoulders, and sat down, all without looking at him. The lights dimmed as she moved until all that remained was the faint gray of the darkening sky.

“After my mom died, I was placed in my aunt’s care,” Theo said, staring up at the sky. “She wasn’t an addict, but she wasn’t much different from my mother. Didn’t want any kids around that weren’t hers. She had enough mouths to feed and no time for more, especially not her deadbeat, druggy sister’s brat.”

For a few moments, Vasil’s jaw was slack; he hadn’t intended to push her for more information, hadn’t expected her to volunteer it. He respected her reluctance to share the painful parts of her past despite his longing to learn more about her. Sharing emotions — especially pain or fear — was something he’d never done until he started living among humans, and even then, those moments had been so rare and brief that they hardly counted for anything. Butthis…

This was important. This waseverything.

“You were eight years old, correct?” he asked. “You said you were thrown into thesystem. Is that what your aunt’s home was called?”

A smirk played upon her lips. “No. We just use that term for a lot of things. Anything that seems to treat people like…like something less than human, I guess. I was put in the government foster care system. They take orphaned children and place them in homes where they can be nourished with love and care.” Those last few words contained a note of bitterness.

She ran a hand through her hair and pulled it over her shoulder in a bundle. “Anyway, yeah, I was eight. It was miserable. I had some food, more than what I usually got from my mom, but my cousins were mean little shits. They called me names, picked on me, and hit me all the time. The only time my aunt ever seemed to be looking was when I hit them back. I was always a scrawny kid, but I knew how to throw a punch, and at least I know I paid them back a little before their mom whopped my ass.

“Her and my uncle fought all the time, especially when it came to me. I was back in the system within a year. After that, I was moved around to a different few group homes — that’s where they have a bunch of kids living together — to awaitsuitable placement. But the last place…”

Frowning deeply, Vasil dropped his gaze to her right hand, which rested atop her thigh. He yearned to touch her, to reassure her. The move would be risky, but he didn’t have the right words to express what he wanted her to know — he wastherefor her. He only hoped the risk was worth it. Every other time he’d touched her, she’d pulled away from him within a short while and closed herself off.

He drew in a deep breath and settled his hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

She started and looked down at his hand but didn’t look away. To Vasil’s surprise, she flipped her hand over, lacing their fingers together as far as his webbing would allow.

“Continue, Theo,” he urged softly.

She tipped her head back against the headrest, keeping her eyes on their intertwined hands. “I was eleven when they sent me to my last group home. It was a nice place. Really clean, which kind of blew my mind. The kids were quiet, but they were friendly, too, and some were my age. We always had full bellies, and we each had our own rooms with all kinds of things. Things that we could call our own. It felt…nice. I even made a friend, the first one I remember ever having. Her name was Tess.

“I should’ve known something that good couldn’t last, that it couldn’t have been real, but I was so damned naïve. I gave in to hope, even though I should’ve known better.”

Theo gathered the ends of the blanket with her free hand and held them together. Vasil would’ve loved to put his arms around her, draw her body against his, and hold her through the night, but he knew it would’ve been too much.

“I was having trouble sleeping one night and was just lying in bed. I heard a noise in the hall coming from Tess’s room, which was across from mine. It sounded like crying. So, I got up and went to check on her. When I opened my door, I saw the man who owned the house coming out of her room. It’s frustrating, but I can’t remember what his name was. I’ll never forget his damned face, but his name is just…lost. Anyway, I think I scared him, because he jumped when he saw me, but then he smiled.

“He told me to get back into bed, so I did, but he followed me into my room. I didn’t think anything of it. A lot of the kids got tucked in at night, and like I said, it was nice to finally have someone who seemed like they cared, you know?” She squeezed Vasil’s hand. “But…he didn’t tuck me in.”

Emotion loomed on the edges of Vasil’s mind, but he held it at bay; he wouldn’t allow himself to react until she’d said all she meant to say. He didn’t know enough about humans to guess at what she’d say next, didn’t know enough to guess what had happened to her. The only thing he knew was that it hadn’t been anything good.

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