Page 120 of Bones

“No. Just the one tied to this identity.”

I went up on an elbow to look down at him. “Do you have a last name?”

He shook his head.

“Dubhloach. One name, like Prince or Cher. Very cool.” I started to roll away, but his hand wrapped around my neck in the way that made my stomach clench like I was on the rapid descent of a coaster.

But a coaster wasn’t what I wanted to go down…

Maybe only an hour of recovery time.

Using his hold, he aimed my face so I was looking at him. “I asked you a question.”

“Ryan was my… ex?”

His fingers flexed.

Half hour recovery.

I could hear the jealousy in his tone when he ground out, “You don’t sound too sure about that.”

It probably didn’t make me a good person that his possessiveness hit me with a heady rush of power, but I also couldn’t find it in me to care.

“It’s complicated, but not because I’m harboring any feelings other than disgust and loathing. I don’t know why he said he was my fiancé. We weren’t even really together in a romantic way.”

The familiar ice water rushed down my spine to tense my body when he grazed a knuckle across my scar. “Did he do this to you?”

I fought the urge to run—or at least cover myself—but I knew Deke wouldn’t let me.

More importantly, I was sick of hiding.

My eyes.

My curse.

My scar.

Myself.

It took a lot of effort, but I stayed where I was and answered him.

“No. Well, kind of. But no.” In the comfort and safety of Deke’s arms, I let my mind wander into a past I tried to block out. One I wished I could forget like the first sixteen years of my life.

Starting from the beginning, I told him about my time with the Gideons. How awful they’d treated me. Mrs. Gideon’s drunken indifference. Pastor Gideon’s tyrannical reign. And Claire’s mean girl torture.

Day in and day out, for six long months.

“By the time Ryan moved to town and became my youth pastor, I was already damaged. I had no answers to the mystery of where my family was or who I was. Everyone either avoided me like I was a freak or pitied me—and I’m not sure which was worse. But he was sweet to me. Funny.Normal. Looking back, he had to have known about my curse.”

“Your gift,” Deke cut in, giving my hair a tug.

A soft smile curved my lips. “My gift. I wasn’t good at hiding it then. Even when I knew I should hold it in, if I got a vision, I blurted it out.”

“You wanted to help.”

“Badly. I knew what it was like not to have any support, so…” I shrugged and pushed on. “Anyway, when Ryan started pursuing me a few months later, I was flattered. He washandsome. All the girls and women wanted him. But he wanted me. And Idesperatelyneeded to be wanted.”

I still do.

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