Page 96 of Severed Heart (The Ravenhood Legacy #2)

“Delphine,” Regina coaxes, “you are in the home you share with Tyler. Outside, the world is different. You are different. Do you understand? You are safe, Delphine. It’s over.

It’s over,” she whispers as my cries start to subside.

After several long minutes, my vision begins to clear, and Regina’s watering eyes finally come into view.

“You are home and safe. Give me a nod if you can.”

I nod as the final pieces click into place. Not a single memory I want to reclaim remains. None worth having. My life now full of only the memories I want to keep. With my soldier, in our heaven. Good days and bad. With Tyler.

“We will sort every emotion you are feeling, Delphine. I swear to you, but for now, we’re going to give that beautiful brain of yours a little rest.”

“I remembered,” I finally say, “I remembered,” I croak in disbelief, eyeing the shoebox I retrieved from my old house last night.

After weeks of fruitless sessions, of drawing blanks.

Weeks of believing my damaged brain would never allow me to see, I recovered the box from my closet in one last effort to try.

Biting my lip, my eyes drift back to the woman I finally allow myself to truly view, to regard as Tyler’s mother.

“Thank you, Regina.” I swallow. “I will find a way to thank you.”

“These circumstances are really unique, and so this request is purely selfish albeit unprofessional, but would you be okay if I hugged you?”

“Oui, yes,” I say. With permission, she pulls me gently into her embrace, and I crumble in relief, holding her back just as tightly. The tears far more quietly shed than any others in our nearly ninety hours together as my body releases each one until an exhausted sleep claims me.

I wake up with strong arms surrounding me, lifting me, and look up to see Tyler gazing down at me.

His expression is pained, though his posture is stoic.

It’s clear he’s indecisive about what he needs to be for me right now as I palm his face to ease his anxiety.

“I remembered,” I whisper. “I remembered that night, Tyler,” I croak, “and I am okay.”

“I’m here, baby,” he murmurs. “I’m right here if you want to talk about it.” I glance around as he walks me toward our bedroom.

“Is it nighttime?”

“Yes, you’ve been out for a few hours. Are you hungry?” he asks, depositing me on our bed and kneeling beside it, gripping my hand between his. “What can I do?”

“You’ve done enough,” I whisper, running my fingers through his lengthening hair.

“Are you okay?” he croaks, real fear in his return gaze.

“You heard me scream?”

He nods.

“It was a scream of outrage, Soldier,” I tell him honestly. “He gets no more of my fear . . .” I palm his jaw. “I’m glad you made him suffer, and I don’t care what that makes me.” I gently stroke his face as his eyes frantically search me. “I feel safe, I promise, and I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby ... fuck ,” he croaks, running a hand through his messy hair. It’s then I recognize the true state of him.

“Tyler. I’m okay. I’m not lying to you. Look at me.”

He does, his eyes roaming every inch before he finally nods, seeming satisfied.

I turn on my pillow to fully face him, studying him carefully, astonished by the soldier I created.

In utter awe of the secrets I suspect he’s been guarding.

“And though I am glad you made Alain suffer, you did not reveal all to me when you confessed about that night, did you?”

He slowly shakes his head. “I was going to tell you.”

“You found out that night that you went to Alain why I stayed? You learned of his threat ... about Abel?”

He nods again.

“And you never told Ezekiel?”

He blows out a long breath. “I can’t and never will.”

“And why is that, my soldier?”

“I had to,” he whispers. “By the time I got there, Abel was already moving in on Tobias. They were playing chess in a park in France. I saw a window and used it to eliminate the threat to my brother.” He swallows. “As far as Tobias knows, Abel died with no foul play. T attended his funeral.”

“And you have kept this hidden from him all this time?”

He nods. “As much as I feel T should know what you endured to protect him, protect them all, you guarded this secret, so I did, too.”

“I endangered them by urging them to come here. I just didn’t realize it until they came to join me in the States.

I wrote those letters before I discovered what Abijah was hiding.

It was only after they got here that he started to threaten me.

” I sigh. “Over time, I realized there was only one thing Alain wanted more than anything else.”

“You,” he deduces easily.

“And I will never understand it.”

“Sadly, I do,” Tyler rasps out mournfully.

“Not like that. It’s as if he became obsessed, and it was only my obedience that kept him quiet.”

“Abel was ... Jesus.” He shakes his head, bewildered.

“The most evil of men.” I nod. “You will one day find out that the longer you play this game, Soldier, how small this world truly is and how few real players there are. But, you’ve already discovered that, haven’t you?”

Another dip of his chin as I sober my expression considerably.

“Tyler, listen to me, I never want Ezekiel to know of his grandfather’s true nature. I never want him to know the evil that exists on his father’s side, of the tainted blood that runs in his veins. Please, promise me you will keep this secret.”

“I promise,” he vows. “Baby, I swear it.”

“And now Ezekiel is playing a dangerous game with Antoine?”

“He’s winning,” Tyler counters. “It’s only a matter of time before it plays out in T’s favor. Dom is already digging into it in France, and he’s not going to let it go. You have to trust us.”

“I will, I do. With everything, you have my trust. And now, sadly, you shoulder this burden with me. But some things are better left undiscovered by those we protect. This is a burden you will carry often in your position.”

“I’m good with it,” he swears, “and I’ve learned from the best,” he relays with a sad smile. “But fuck baby, what you’ve gone through.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you will face. I’m sorry for this for you.”

He gazes at me, his question evident.

“Ask me, Tyler.”

“Why didn’t you kill him, Delphine?”

“As much as I wanted to, as many times as I almost did, my gift is gathering information, deciphering intent, and strategy. So with Alain, that’s what I did.

I spent so many years in fear of Abel, finally realizing as each one passed that he was biding his time until Ezekiel grew.

But of course, you eventually saved me from that fear, too. ”

“You suffered enough.”

“I am tired, Soldier. I know you are curious, and we have much to discuss, but can we maybe talk of this another time?”

“Of course,” he agrees easily.

“Will you stay with me until I sleep?”

He’s instantly on his feet with my request, taking off his shirt while pushing off his boots. A heartbeat later he’s pulling me to fit inside his arms. I run my fingertips along the space between the knuckles of the palm holding me to him as I speak.

“Hear me. I will never think less of you for protecting me or my nephews, Soldier. I will never see you as anything more than a man who saved me,” I whisper. “And you truly have saved me, Tyler, in every way.”

“It’s only fair,” he murmurs, emotion evident in his voice, “because you saved me first .”