Page 50 of Those That Defy the Realm

“Yet.”

“Unless you’re hiding the fact you work for the authorities hunting down my kind, I don’t think there is anything you could say that would change the way I’m starting to feel about you.”

A wet chuckle escapes as the tears win out and spill down my cheeks. “No, I wouldn’t ever do that. I believe in everything you and Rory are doing to change things with the authorities; the vampire war was horrendous.”

“Then why are you dooming this before it even has a chance to grow? Please, help me understand.” His other hand comes to my face so he’s cupping it now, forcing me to keep his gaze and so he can wipe the tears away with his thumbs as they fall.

“I’m not good at relationships. Include me now if you want, but I’ll understand if you and Ash decide you want to be together, just the two of you.”

“Not happening,” he says with a conviction I can’t believe.

“Henry, I⁠—”

“Oh my gods, Claire! What’s wrong?” Rory’s sudden reappearance has me and Henry springing apart. I swipe my cheeks hard to get rid of the remaining tears and put on a smile.

“Rory, where did you go?”

My friend stares between the two of us with a questioning pull in her eyebrows, her fiery red curls dancing as her head moves between me and Henry. “I wanted to catch Ty as he got home. Claire, why are you crying?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re clearly not,” she argues before turning to my companion. “Henry?”

Henry stays silent, looking between me and the door behind my best friend. My heart gives a little lurch in gratitude that he doesn’t rat me out.

“I’m just a little overwhelmed,” I tell Rory, it’s not a complete lie. “Henry heard me ranting to myself and came to let me vent.”

“I had no idea.” She rushes over to hug me. “Claire, why didn’t you say anything? I know we’ve been pushing this project hard, but you should’ve said if it was stressing you out.”

“It’s fine, I'm okay, I promise. This is just a momentary blip,” I reassure her, snivelling a little.

Rory pulls back but keeps her hands on my arms. “You know what? We have all been working too hard. I’ve barely spent any time with you outside of this chaos since it all happened. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I’m quick to tell her. What she says is true, something I’m just now realising as well. But I don’t want her blaming herself for my current meltdown.

“Tell you what, let's leave this until tomorrow. You can clock off now, right? Let’s go into the city for a drink, and you can get something to eat, and we can catch up. Properly.”

Her suggestion does actually sound good. “Let’s do it.”

“Fab! I’m afraid some of the guys will have to come, bodyguards and all.” She rolls her eyes, but I know she isn’t actually annoyed by having to have protection. I think she would be too nervous to venture out into the city on her own after everything she’s been through. “But I will make them sit at a different table. This is a girls night, alright?”

Nodding, she hugs me again. I hug her back earnestly. I might have just lied to my best friend about the cause of my stress, but she doesn’t need to worry about me with everything she has going on.

Comparatively, Rory’s trauma is much more harrowing than my own. She’s lost her parents, been kidnapped, turned into an illegal creature, survived on her own for months and had to fight for her life to return to her home. One bad break-up and the ghost of an ex is trivial next to all that, and Rory’s still standing.

Taking a deep breath, I shove the emotions down and offer a genuine smile as we decide where in the city to go.

“You coming, Henry?” Rory asks as she links her arm through mine and leads me out of the building site.

“Yeah, sure.” His hesitance has me looking back over my shoulder. He’s watching me closely, and his face is a mixture of confusion and concern. He watched me go from heading into freefall to completely composed and smiling in the span of a few seconds. I can almost see his mind mulling over the puzzle I’ve laid out for him, how much of me is real and how much is fake?

“Join us, please.” I make sure to face him, to turn away fully from Rory so she doesn’t see my face. Dropping my facade, I let him see that the mask I’ve just donned is the act, that the pain underneath is the real me. It’s the only thing I can offer right now, and I hope he sees it for what it is; me taking a chance.

A small one. A tiny dip of my feet into what could be a sweeping tide, like paddling in the ocean when you know all too well that it could have the power to sweep you away if you go in far enough.

I still firmly believe this is all going to come crashing down around us eventually, but I had my chance to back out and was too weak to take it. My heart is already too involved, beating louder than the voice inside my head, to not say yes. Especially, when we’re in the same room as one another.

Henry follows us out of the room and doesn’t take his eyes off me for the rest of the night.