Truth: Book Two of the Taboo Series by Brittany Chapman

Author:Brittany Chapman [Chapman, Brittany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22- Prune

I pried my eyes open against the agonizing light. Dizzy sat on the couch as Granny sewed up his leg. I tried to move but my head was too heavy. Reese hovered above Dizzy, smoking a blunt. His hands shook as his eyes darted rapidly around the room.

Hands clutched mine. William's head rested on the bed, his knees on the floor as if in prayer.

I inhaled the scent of his spiraling curls and tried to focus on the soft wisps on my face. He lifted his eyes to mine as if he could feel me coming back to life.

His eyes were swollen and red as tears raced along his cheeks.

“It's almost time, baby. Hold on.”

I tried to roll onto my back. His eyes widened as my shoulders twitched. He leapt to his feet and hovered above me, his hands quaking.

Reese rushed forward and yanked William back. “She can't move yet,” William’s eyes screamed as his hands flew to his hair, his long fingers already beginning to tug.

The air scraped my raw throat as I tried to speak. “Why?” I couldn't hear my own voice but William saw the movement. He knew what I was trying to communicate.

His eyes closed as his body sagged with relief. He crashed to his knees so hard I thought they must have cracked.

“Ruth?” Reese leaned closer, worry in his face. “Don't try to move. Be as still as you can.”

“Why?”

He smiled. He was happy to witness me coming back into myself, even if I couldn’t feel much of anything. “Granny had to drug you pretty good. You could hurt yourself or bust the stitches. She says you have a few broken ribs, too, so take it easy.”

The visions of the night flooded back to me. William. He had returned home in time.

My lungs rattled as I took a deeper breath. My body was too heavy to jolt with the sharp pain in my back and side.

Everyone stared at me as if they thought I still needed the hospital- everyone but Granny. She simply smiled.

William lifted my head gently. His clothes and hair were still drenched as he pulled a pillow beneath my own damp hair. I searched the room, unable to turn much, for the dead man. There was blood on the cracked wall but no corpse.

William’s fingers on my skin, gentle and testing, made me turn my gaze. He inspected my body and I wished I could see what he was witnessing.

It can’t be worse than the marks when I fell down the stairs.

The pain in his darkening eyes sharpened the more he searched my body. My heart sunk deeper as his emotions twisted into guilt and self-loathing, regardless of how he fought to hide his thoughts.

His gaze refused to meet my own. His jaw clenched as his eyes reddened with the effort of not crying. His heavy breath and sharp, mechanical movements pierced my mind with paranoia.

He was thinking hard about something, trying to strengthen himself and obtain bravery. He was preparing for something cruel.

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