Dark Tides

ix: Tangl

resounding thud. The sound echoed in her ears, amplifyin

s voice came from behind her, calm and meas

er hands clenched at her s

amusement. "Indeed, you are. B

nt answers, Damien. About you, about why you've been

rrupted, his to

d, thrown o

at you're afraid of, isn't it? That someone might ac

e," she snapped.

-whisper. "Your anger, your fear, your walls built so high no one dares

ny it, to shove his words back in his f

distance, but Damien followed, his pr

you is some grand manipulation? Maybe it is, but not in the way

manded, her v

rtling her. "I've lived in darkness too. I know what it's lik

tears stinging her

iercing. "Or are you just afraid

between them, heav

-

nderstated yet commanding. A fire crackled in the h

ring to the velvet ar

ly over her chest. Damien took the seat opposite h

n explanatio

yly, though the bite in h

s: I don't do things without reason. My interest in you, my inv

wh

yo

Why me? Why this town? Wh

knees. "My endgame is simple: I want to help

any sense," she said, her frustration bubbl

you, Anya. Potential you've buried under years o

her throat. She hated how his words stirred something

pered, her voic

licker of vulnerability in his eyes. "Because I see a reflection o

She looked away, her thoughts a w

she said finally, thoug

ving," Damien said

-

ory. He asked about her art, her life before the seaside cottage

d him about the accident that had taken everything from her-her parents, her stability, her sense of self. S

ien listened, his a

strangely lighter, as though a weight she had

," Damien

r w

ng me with

heeks flushing. "I didn

said. "And you chose to let me i

-

d before Anya realized it,

she said, risin

e steady. "I won't stop you.

f his words settling over he

pable of," he said simply. "A

walked toward the door, her mind a

de, the cool night a