Page 5 of UnWholly Angels
“Riley, I'm sorry.” I moved my hand to wipe the tears from his face, but he only moved his head to the side and sniffed, putting up his guard. An invisible mask I was all too familiar with.
“When he was sober, he was a really great dad. My mom was beautiful and so strong. Over time, though, after my dad lost his job, she started getting quiet, more reserved. I saw the way he broke her down. I won’t be like that ever. One day, I'll be an amazing husband and wear a ‘number one dad’ hat and have asexy dad bod. The whole nine yards. My family will always know how loved they are.”
It was extremely brave of him to share these things with me. It must have been hard to admit, just as it was for me. After the day he’d had, I was glad to be the person who stumbled across him and gave him that safe space. Riley seemed just as conflicted as I was, unable to choose the life handed to him. The people who are supposed to love us most, repeatedly letting us down.
We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, neither of us moving away from each other. “You never told me how you ended up finding me,” he said after a minute.
I thought about my answer, wondering how much I should tell him. “I needed to get some air,” I answered, trying to act as if that was all that had happened.
He leaned back, trying to see my face in the darkness. “And they just let you walk outside?”
I shrugged. “Not really? Rocco told me to get out, so Lorenzo let me come outside.”
He was quiet, like he was trying to figure out how that made sense. Trying to get more comfortable, he moved his hands from my lower back to my arms, and I hissed. His hand landed on the space Rocco had grabbed, where a bruise had already started to form.
Instantly, I felt his eyes lock onto me. His breath caught in his throat as he gently placed his hand over my slightly raised skin. I couldn’t stop the whimper from escaping my lips, and to my surprise, a growl burst from Riley’s mouth. “Did he do that to you?”
I didn’t answer him. It wouldn’t have made a difference; it wasn’t like I could try and lie. He didn’t need me to tell him something he already knew.
We were both silent after that, and the knot in my stomach grew with each passing second. What was going to happen nowthat he knew the truth? He couldn’t do anything to stop it, and trying to help would probably get him killed. I opened my mouth after a while to speak, but he beat me to it.
“I’ll protect you. He will never hurt you again,” he whispered.
“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” I huffed.
He chuckled. “Maybe. But that’s a conversation for another day.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Whatever you say. How do you think you’ll protect me, tough guy?”
“As much as I hate this…you have to put me back in the hole. But once they bring me back, you tell me any time someone puts their hands on you.”
I shivered, knowing how hard this would be for him. “I don’t want to.”
“I know. Trust me, I don’t want you to. But it’s the only way,” he explained.
I nodded against his chest. “Okay.”
After a few more minutes, he gently pushed me off his lap, and together we made our way out of the cave. The rain had stopped, and the crisp night air chilled my skin. Taking his hand, I silently led us back down the hill and stopped just before we were out of the trees. Turning to face him, I chuckled as I ran my hand along his shoulder to wipe some of the dirt away. “Thanks for hiding with me,” I whispered.
He smirked. “Thanks for trying to rescue me, Maya.”
Looking up at him, my gaze locked with his in the moonlight, and the soft glow reflected off his green eyes. They had a brownish tint to them, reminding me of the earth right before the leaves dropped from the trees. I couldn’t help but stare, and it was probably making him feel awkward. Suddenly, it hit me.
“King,” I muttered as his fingers ran through my matted hair. “That's your nickname.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“You ask a lot of questions, Riley, but I'll give you this one. Your nickname is King because that's what I came up with,” I teased. When he stared blankly at me, I laughed and added, “Because maybe one day we’ll get out of here and have a kingdom all our own.”
Once he was shoved painfully back where I found him, I sat there and held his hand through the grate, waiting for the sun to come up. He wasn't going to be left alone in the dark, not anymore. When the light finally peeked through the horizon, turning the once dark sky into a beautiful hue of purple and orange, I bit my lip. I knew I had to go back, but I didn’t want to leave.
Riley spoke up first. “It’s time for you to go. I’ll be okay. Go start sketching.”
“Sketching?” I laughed, nervously picking at the skin on my wrinkled fingers.
He smiled. “That's right. We need a castle. What's a king without his queen, right?”
I rose, my lips twitching into a small smile. Even though I didn’t choose this life, there were moments that forced me to see what I had. The sky had wept for Riley and me last night—the forgotten ones, struggling for freedom just out of reach. The truth was, we would never leave this place. The abuse, the memories, and the nightmares would always plague us. It couldn’t hurt to pretend for just a little while, though.
