The Reaper's Runaway Princess novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Ask Your Brother

At two in the morning, Mara sat on the steel exam table with her phone in both hands.

She could not make her thumbs move.

Dean sat on the stool facing her with a mug of tea for her and a mug of something stronger for himself.

He had not said a word in ten minutes, which for him was a record.

"Say it out loud," he said at last. "It helps."

"Rodney is my brother."

"Okay."

"He taught me to ride a bike. He took the blame when I broke a window. He carried me out of that house." Her voice cracked. "He's the only person who never left."

"That's one story," Dean said gently. "Another one has a gap in it."

She looked down at the phone.

Wyatt had gone back across the street at one to tell the others what the bridge meant.

He had held her face for a long moment at the door and said nothing.

There was nothing to say that she hadn't already thought herself.

Rodney told her they'd called her father.

Rodney told them she had walked back.

Both couldn't be true.

"If I'm wrong," she said, "I'm about to hurt the one person who kept me alive."

"Then you'll apologize, and he'll forgive you, because he's your brother." Dean took a drink. "And if you're right, you need to know before Sunday."

"Why Sunday?"

"Because Sunday you're supposed to walk into a clubhouse."

She breathed in once, deeply, and typed.

I saw HIM on Main Street today. He told me to ask you how he found me. What does that mean?

She stared at it.

Then she sent it.

The message showed as delivered. For a minute, nothing happened.

Then three dots appeared, vanished, and appeared again.

Her phone rang in her hand.

Rodney.

She did not answer.

It stopped, and a text arrived a moment later.

WHATEVER HE SAID IS A LIE. STAY INSIDE. DON'T TRUST ANYONE. I'M COMING NOW.

Mara read it twice, and the room went very quiet.

"He didn't ask where," Dean said softly.

"What?"

"A man tells you he saw your husband, and he doesn't ask where, or when, or if you're hurt." Dean set his mug on the counter. "He asked nothing. He just said it's a lie."

"Dean..."

"I could be wrong." He reached out and put his hand over hers on the phone. "I hope to God I am."

← Chapter 10 · All chapters · Chapter 12 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend