Page 26 of Unraveling Fate

“If it hurts to hold it up, you can lay it on my shoulder,” Taran said. “Just stay awake for me, alright?”

If it hurts to hold up the ocean?She frowned, but the motion pulled on the wound on her forehead. Another wave of rhythm washed over her.No, I can’t hold up the ocean anymore.

Cadenza laid her head on his chest. Under her cheek a new drumming joined the song—Taran’s heartbeat. It sang out, steady despite his near-jog, solid like a rock in the storm. She found her own heartbeat, soprano to Taran’s bass. The thunder and ocean of his drums, his song, swirled between the two heartbeats.

Cadenza raised a hand over the music. “Shhh.”

The ocean calmed. The thunder melted into the rhythm of Taran’s heartbeat. Not gone. The drums still coursed through her but no longer threatened to break her apart.

Taran managed to punch in the door code on the garage keypad without setting her down. His footsteps echoed off the concrete through the empty room.

Empty.

Cadenza raised her head and pointed to the sheet on the floor where the Ferrari should have been.

“Where’s my car?” Her voice slurred through the words.

Taran cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. “Your car?”

“You can’t be driving it right now, you’re right here,” she pointed out.

“Astute observation.” Taran set her down on the landing and nodded at her front door. “Do you have your key?”

A degree of clarity returned when her feet hit the floor. “Crap. I left my keys in the car.”

“Your other car, you mean?” His lips twitched. “Ah well, a door’s nothing that can’t be mended in the morning. By yourleave.” He kicked once, just below the doorknob. The wood bent inwards, and the door swung open.

Cadenza blinked. “Well, I guess that beats going all the way back to the fence.”

Taran laughed, hands on his hips. “Come on, I still owe you tea. And let’s take a better look at that head of yours.”

Cadenza snuggled deeperin her fleece blanket and bathed her face in the steam from her tea. Plates clinked in her kitchen as Taran fixed her something to eat. She watched him, his frame drum song still dancing over her arms, mischievous and playful, but quieter now. The ocean had receded as soon as he’d set her down on the landing, and although it thundered back to life when he’d held an icepack to her injury, she’d also heard his heartbeat threaded through the drums.

What had she done when he carried her?

Her head throbbed. She had no idea what she had done. She didn’t even really know what the music she heardwas, let alone how it worked. It wasn’t as if she’d had anyone to talk to about it. She snorted.

Hi, I’m Cadenza, I hear things. What’s your name?

Yeah, that’d go over well.

“Did you get their license plate number?” Taran asked.

“No, all I saw on the truck were those idiotic, fake…” She dangled two curved fingers in imitation. “Stupid compensation trucks.”

He paused at the toaster. “Compensation trucks?”

“Yeah.” Cadenza shifted on the couch to see him better. A low ponytail gathered his hair back, and the kitchen lamp highlighted his jaw. The frame drum quickened on her skin, thememory of his heartbeat echoing in her chest. She hid behind a sip of tea before continuing. “We called them that in high school. Because all the guys who thought being a ‘real man’ meant a jacked-up truck and driving like a jerk were really just compensating for their,” she raised an eyebrow, “lack of ‘real manhood’.”

Taran barked a laugh. “Ah, I see.Thattype. If that’s a real man, then a chihuahua is a real wolf.” He handed her a plate and sprawled on the other side of the couch. “Scrambled eggs for protein, toast with jam to put some sugar in your blood, and turtle chocolates for emotional support. And because I heard you like them.”

“I see.” She gave a laugh. “Someone’s been telling my secrets.”

“From what I can tell, my father was right chuffed to have you come stay here. He’s filled me in on quite a lot. Like being here is a bit of a homecoming. How’s that been for you?”

She groaned. “Besides being mostly broke, getting in a car accident, and Canon’s…” She threw her hand up. “Whatever’s going on with Canon?”

“Canon, the salesman, Canon? What’s he been up to?”