Page 70 of Twisted Truths
“What do you want from me? Is this some sort of game you and Gabriel have cooked up to mess with me? Haven’t I lost enough?”
“Stop! Please,” I beg him, tears rolling down my cheeks. “This isn’t a game, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I didn’t know what to do. You have no idea what it was like, sneaking around and trying to make sure he was okay after Zara left. I put my life at risk to keep my promise to her. If I had been caught by anyone other than Gabriel, I’d probably be dead, too.”
Nash doesn’t look at me. His jaw clenches, the muscleticking like he’s holding something back. I don’t know if it’s grief or fury. Probably both.
“I wasn’t keeping Franklin from you,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I was protecting him fromthem. Franklin isn’t a baby to Guardian Solomon and Seraphina. He’s a legacy. They believe he’s Gabriel’s son, and because of that, he belongs to them.”
“Why did you care so much about his safety?” Nash challenges, rising to his feet and pacing near the wall. “You barely knew Zara.”
I flinch at the harshness of his words, but I come back at him with my own truth. “Madeline died during childbirth, so I never got to meet my niece. Gabriel lost his daughter and his Chosen in a horrific way, and that’s why he was so willing to help Zara.”
Pain flashes in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. His silence hurts more than his anger.
“Zara and I became friends when she found me visiting my sister’s grave. I wasn’t supposed to. Seraphina told me I needed to leave the past in the past if I was to join them. Having nowhere to go, I accepted her terms. A few weeks after Gabriel announced Zara as his Chosen, and that she would have his child, I visited Maddy’s grave for the first time in two and a half years.”
Tears well in my eyes, and I draw in a shaky breath.
“I was angry at him for moving on, while I missed my sister every day. Zara found me there, and I was so scared she was going to tell Seraphina, and I’d be sent away with nowhere to go. But Zara assured me my secret was safe with her.”
Nash drops his head, his hands circling the back of his neck. His pain hurts me, but he needs to know everything, so I keep talking.
“She confided in me, explaining Seraphina had prohibitedher to speak to any of the congregation until she had proven commitment to our lifestyle, so we agreed to meet once a week in private. She was isolated, lonely, and a little skittish, always looking over her shoulder. As the pregnancy progressed, Zara admitted she was getting nervous. Guardian Solomon and Seraphina were becoming … intense. I assumed it was because of what happened to my sister. I didn’t know Gabriel wasn’t the father of Zara’s baby until the day I saw you at the river.”
“She didn’t even tell me she was pregnant,” Nash mutters, the anguish clear in his voice.
I wasn’t the only person who kept secrets from him.
“A week or so before she gave birth, Zara became even more spooked. She said it was no longer safe for her in the Circle, and I assumed it had something to do with Gabriel, or our leaders. Now, I’m not so sure. When I pressed her about her escape plan, she said we’d need to get as far away from Barrenridge as possible. It wasn’t safe for her or Franklin. She told me she had someone who would help get her out, but she never gave me any details.”
“I asked our half-brother, Levi to get her out of there at all costs.” Nash’s brow furrows. “He conveniently left out about her being pregnant. It seems no one wants to fucking tell me anything.”
“I don’t know who it was. All I know is she said she had access to enough money to move away and start a new life and asked if I wanted to come with her. She planned to leave before the baby was born, but he had other plans, and she went into early labour. After Franklin was born, I didn’t see her for six weeks. They were kept in isolation, and when I finally did see her, she told me Seraphina was insisting on taking over his care while Zara proved her loyalty to the Circle. She politely refused, but Gabriel’s mother isn’t someone who likes beingtold no. Especially when it comes to the first child of the Circle, or so she thought.”
“Gabriel claims he was trying to save her. If he knew the child wasn’t really his, why didn’t he say something?”
“That’s something you’re going to have to ask him. I only know what Zara told me.”
He runs a frustrated hand through his curls. “While I appreciate the cliffs notes on what my sister went through in that fucked up place, I’m still not hearing why you kept my nephew from me. You listened to me talk about how losing my family gutted me, and the whole time, you knew I still had a living link to my sister.”
“And you listened to me tell you how scared I was,” I counter angrily before taking a deep breath. “Nash, I was terrified. I just found out my friend was murdered after escaping the same place I was desperate to get out of, and then you kissed me and everything changed. It was like the ground moved beneath me and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. Suddenly, it wasn’t only about keeping Franklin safe but also protecting whatever was …is… happening between us. I had so many secrets, and I didn’t know who to trust. If the wrong people found out, it would be my life in danger.”
“So, this is all my fault?” He stands up, towering over me, his tone cold. “You couldn’t tell me because I put your life in danger? Why show up yesterday, then? If you were so damn scared of what would happen to you and Franklin, why come to Zara’s funeral?”
“No,” I say quickly, stepping towards him, but my heart aches when he takes a step back. “I’m messing this up.”
Nash doesn’t even try to reassure me. He’s angry and hurt, and I did that to him.
“I never meant for this to happen,” I whisper, my voice shaky. Tears sting the back of my eyes, but I don’t have anyright to cry. I betrayed him, and I don’t blame him for being mad. “I didn’t know how to tell you and keep him from ending up like Zara. Seraphina treated him like he was some holy relic of their twisted future, and I was scared of trusting the wrong person and being the reason something bad happened to him.”
He drags a hand over his face, and when he speaks again, his voice is softer. “It’s black and white, Hadley. You should have told me from the start. He’s my flesh and blood.”
“I know.” My voice shakes. “But I didn’t, and I can’t rewind time to fix it. All I can do now is be honest. I want to be here for you, Nash.” Biting down on my bottom lip, I force my gaze to meet his. “I want to be herewithyou. Together with Gabriel, we’ll find a way to get Franklin out of there, I promise. But please don’t shut me out. I tried to tell you last night, but…” My voice trails off. I can’t exactly tell him he stopped me. “I’m so sorry. More than you’ll ever know.”
A heavy silence stretches between us, and my stomach sinks when he’s the first to look away. “I need space. I need to figure out how to forgive you.”
Even though his words hurt, I nod. “I understand. I’ll tell Gabriel we have to leave.”
He exhales deeply. “You’ve got nowhere to go, and I can’t risk losing my nephew. You can stay, just … give me some time to figure this all out in my head.”
