chapter 24
Griffin glanced at Selene again, but she still hadn’t moved. As soon as they’d arrived home, she’d sat down on the couch, pale as ghost. And there she had remained. Staring unseeingly into space. Not moving. Not speaking. Not reacting. Just sitting.
They got no response from their initial attempts to talk to her, and she strongly blocked any attempts Lila made to help her emotions. Eventually, they all just decided what she needed was space and time to process what had happened, so they left her alone. They’d wait to discuss what to do next after Selene had pulled herself together.
They ate dinner, and afterwards Ellie, Griffin, and Alex went upstairs to study, while the others hung out and watched some TV. Soon it was time for bed, and Selene still had not moved. Ellie tried once more to connect with her but received no response.
Ellie shot Griffin a concerned look. “You’ve got to reach her.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Don’t be snarky.”
Griffin stared at his sister for a second and then gave a brief nod. He waited until everyone had left, and then he sat down on the couch beside Selene.
“Selene.”
No answer.
“Talk to me, please,” he tried again. He reached to brush a strand of hair from her face, but she jerked away.
Griffin ignored the painful emotions that shot through him at her reaction and instead focused on the fact that she’d showed some kind of response… even if it was rejecting his affections. Holding up his hands in surrender, he said, “I won’t touch you. But I’m not moving from this spot until you talk to me.”
No reaction.
Griffin settled himself more comfortably in his seat, never moving his gaze from her. It was no hardship to stare at Selene. When she’d visited him in his dreams, he’d come to memorize every line, every curve of her face. Of course, that was before he’d known she was real. He’d thought she was beautiful in his dreams, but that was nothing compared to seeing her in the flesh.
Finally, after several long minutes of silence, Selene stirred.
“Go away, Griffin.” Her voice was dull, colorless.
“Not until you talk to me.”
“About what exactly?”
“You pick. What just happened with the Vyusher? How you’re feeling? Whether you’re okay?”
“I don’t want to talk to you. Don’t you understand that?”
“You need to talk to someone.”
She gave as short, sharp laugh. “And you’re the best candidate? You pick then, I guess.”
Griffin thought for a moment. If he could just get her started talking… “What did Xavier mean about your parents?”
“I’ve already showed you what Gideon made me do to them.”
Griffin shook his head. “No, there’s more to it.”
“Couldn’t you read our minds?”
“You were blocking me.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Selene looked down at her hands, which were clenched in her lap. Griffin thought she was going to leave it at that, but after a few moments, she let out a deep sigh.
“When I removed their powers, it apparently drove them insane.” Selene’s voice was cold, almost robotic. “Gideon didn’t kill them right away and took great pleasure in sharing that fact with me. To test me, of course. See if I’d react. I didn’t.”
“Jeez,” Griffin breathed. This girl had been through more than even he and Ellie had known. His heart ached for her. He reached out without thinking about it, wanting to offer her some kind of comfort. But she jerked away from him again.
“I’ve taken rejection and isolation and exclusion all my life. So much that I no longer allow it to affect me.” Finally she looked him, her gaze direct. “And I’m done with it. I won’t give you the chance to reject me again.”
Selene stood up abruptly. Griffin had no idea what to say to her. He’d thought his reasons to stop what they’d been doing the night before had been good ones. But she’d shown who she was today, and he knew with every fiber of his being that his fears had been unfounded.
“I’d hoped for something more between us,” she said, and he quickly masked his astonishment. “I never expected you to ever accept me. I was a part of the worst horror of your life. But I guess I was holding on to some small amount of… well…it doesn’t matter now.” She moved toward the doorway.
“Selene –” He had to tell her. Explain.
“No.” She halted him with one word. “Just leave me alone.” She turned and walked away from him, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway.
Griffin let her go. He’d thought that nothing could ever hurt as much as losing his family in such a terrible way. But now he knew that he’d been wrong.
This was worse.
*****
Selene wrapped herself in numbness like a protective cloak. She knew that the devastation buried deep inside her would make its way to the surface eventually. She was dreading that moment. She made her way to her room in search of some much needed privacy. She undressed and got ready for bed in a zombie-like trance and then climbed between the cool sheets. She lay there a second before she turned over on her side and curled up in a pathetic little ball of frozen misery.
The first sound came out almost like a hiccup. Just a tiny squeak which swiftly turned into a keening wail. And then her body was wracked in heart-wrenching, full-body sobs. They came so hard and fast that she couldn’t catch her breath.
As her body squeezed tighter and she started to worry that she was getting hysterical, Selene felt the bed dip. And then a strong arm banded around her waist and her body was pulled up against a solid wall of male muscle.
Selene knew it was Griffin without looking. And despite how angry she was with him, the comfort she received in his arms overrode her need to stay angry right now. His warm scent surrounded her. He said nothing, just held her tightly as emotions washed through her in waves. Gradually, his heat seeped into her, spreading through her and over her. Her sobs slowed until her body could relax just the tiniest amount, and then further still, until the only sounds she made were stuttering indrawn breaths.
“I … I’m all right. You can go now,” she eventually sputtered between sniffles.
“Are you sure?”
“Uh-huh. Yeah.”
His arms tightened around her briefly and then slipped from her body, leaving her chilled where his skin had been warming hers. Hearing the bedroom door open, she looked over her shoulder at him.
“Why?” she asked. She couldn’t read his expression in the half-light of the hallway, but saw him hunch one shoulder.
“I…care for you,” he replied softly. And then he closed the door behind him.
Selene didn’t know how long she lay there, no longer crying, not moving, not seeing… just being. She heard no sound, felt no familiar pulse of power, felt no stirring in the room to warn her.
By the time she felt a large hand clamped mercilessly over her mouth, and another squeezing her throat, it was already too late.
“Scream and I’ll snap your neck,” a male voice growled warningly in her ear.
Maddox… oh hell!
Selene desperately reached for her power to disable his, but it wasn’t there. She couldn’t feel her powers, and her entire body tensed in terror. And then, suddenly and silently, they were instantly transported somewhere else. Selene had just enough time to feel panic wash through her before a sickly sweet-smelling rag was placed over her mouth and nose and oblivion claimed her.