Page 69 of Iridian

I heard his voice the moment I stepped into the hallway.

“Taland?” I called, hoping maybe he was talking to me or calling for me or something, but he wasn’t.

He wasn’t calling for anyone—he wasarguingwith someone in a hushed voice, in a language I had never heard before. It sounded familiar, though, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, maybe because of the sheer panic that took over me completely—either because someone was here, in the bathroom with him or because Taland had never before mentioned that he could speak foreign languages.

And it didn’t stop.

“Taland?” I said louder when I couldn’t take it anymore and I was already thinking about the bracelet he kept in the bedroom because he didn’t want it on him all the time, how fast I could go and grab it, how fast I could attack someone if it came to it.

I tried the door—locked.

Which was funny because we didn’t lock doors.

But before I could run for the bracelet and break that thing to pieces, the lock turned and Taland opened the door, a small smile on his face.

“Couldn’t wait to see me, could you,” he said, grabbing his face in my hands, coming in for a kiss like he normally did.

Except I moved away—of course, I moved away. I pushed him to the side and walked into the bathroom, sure I’d find someone,anyonesitting there on the toilet or in the shower or on the fucking sink, but there was nobody there.

I looked up at the walls surrounding the tub area—had someone climbed up and jumped to the other side?

“Sweetness, what’s wrong?”

Taland was right behind me.

I turned to him, trying to keep myself under control. “Who were you talking to, Taland?”

His smile dropped like I’d just slapped him across the face. “Nobody.”

Impossible,my mind insisted. “I heard you. Right now—I heard you talking to someone, Taland. In a foreign language, and I didn’t know you knew foreign languages! And why the hell did you lock the door?!”

His arms were already around me. “It’s fine, baby,” he told me. “I promise you nobody was here. I wasn’t talking to anyone, I swear it.”

Again, hemeantit, which was the problem. Because he swore it and he believed that he was telling me the truth and I knew that eitherIwas completely losing it, or…

“Hey, look at me,” Taland said, and I blinked the tears away to focus on his face. He looked concerned, but nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s fine, baby. You’re okay.I’mokay. We’re fine.”

He repeated that to me over and over again and took me straight to bed, held me in his arms, kissed me and caressed me until I slept—maybe because I was tired or maybe because I just wanted the night to end, to escape this absurdity. All the while he whispered to me that we were perfectly fine.

That was the first time that I didn’t believe him.

Day ten.

We’d never gone so long without something happening, without being found by someone, being chased by someone—or without one of us disappearing into thin air. Nobody had cometo bother us, and life was so simple, so beautiful, everything I’d ever dreamed to have with Taland. Just the two of us watching movies and eating delicious food, sleeping together, being together—and that waterfall was an added bonus I never even knew I needed.

Even though I missed Poppy and Cassie and Taylor, I had Taland. It was the perfect getaway, better than anything my imagination could ever come up with.

Or maybe I should sayalmost perfect.

Small things haunted me, not just having heard Taland talking to the air twice now, once in a foreign language that I was sure was Portuguese because I’d been doing some research online—withoutadmitting it to myself—whenever I could. It was the way he sometimes stared at something in the distance, too, and his entire body locked down and he wouldn’t respond to me when I called for him.

One morning, I woke up to find him staring out the window, and I had to fucking slap him across the face for him to come to his senses, then swear to me that he had been sleeping, that he hadn’t been looking at anything or anyone.

And, while I had been gaining weight, eating more each day, he didn’t. In fact, I was pretty sure if we had a scale it would be telling us that he lost a lot. His cheeks were hollowed out and the bags under his eyes were bluer than usual, and I could have sworn I could touch his ribs when he was on top of me. I could make them out perfectly on his back, a lot more than usual.

Something was definitely up, but I was too busy fighting with myself for those ten days to allow myself to admit it. To allow myself to look into it deeper, maybe confront Taland, figure out if he really didn’t know what was happening or if he was just lying—what for?

I didn’t have it in me to face that music yet—or even the possibility thatIhad lost my mind somewhere in the process ofrunning for my life or trying to make sure Taland was safe. It wouldn’t have surprised me, now when I thought back to it, but in those short, blissful days, I wasn’t ready for any of it.

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