Chapter 8: Answers? Choke on it

~Elara~

I couldn't move.

Anger exploded inside me and I gripped Lily's hand so hard she whimpered. Every nerve in my body had short-circuited, every thought scattered like leaves in a violent wind.

Five years had changed him. His shoulders were broader, his jaw harder, his eyes carrying wisdom that hadn't been there before. But I would know that face anywhere. I had liked that face. I had traced those features in the dark. I had screamed his name into my pillow for months after he left.

And now he was standing ten feet away from me, staring like he had seen a ghost.

My first instinct was to run. To grab Lily and sprint back to the car and drive until this place was nothing but a speck in my rearview mirror. But my legs wouldn't cooperate. They had rooted me to the floor while my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest.

He couldn't be here. This couldn't be happening.

I had trusted Rhys. I had put my daughter in his car. I had let him drive us for hours into the wilderness because he promised safety, because he looked at me with kind eyes and bought Lily a sandwich without tomatoes. Because something in my stupid, desperate heart wanted to believe that help could come from a stranger with a familiar face.

A familiar face. God, I was an idiot.

I had noticed the resemblance from the moment I saw Rhys in the hospital. The same jaw, the same cheekbones, the same mouth that had once said I was meant for him in the dark. I had told myself it was a coincidence that meant nothing.

But it wasn't a coincidence. It was never a coincidence.

They were brothers. They had to be. Maybe even twins.

The realization made me dizzy. I had stumbled into a hospital and a stranger with my one night stand’s face had offered to help my daughter. I had thought it was fate.

But it was blood. It was always blood.

"Elara?" Rhys's voice came beside me, soft with concern. "Are you alright? You've gone pale."

His hand found my back warmly. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to shove him away and demand to know if this had been his plan all along. But I couldn't.

I forced myself to breathe…in through the nose, and out through the mouth just the way I had taught myself during those endless nights when Lily wouldn't stop crying and I had no one to call for help.

I could do this. I had survived worse. I had survived him.

"I'm fine." I said, smiling stiffly. "Just tired from the drive."

Rhys studied my face, his eyes searching for something. Whatever he found seemed to worry him because his hand on my back became firmer.

"We can get you settled inside." He murmured. "You don't have to meet everyone this evening. I can make excuses."

The tenderness in his tone made my chest ache. He didn't know. He had no idea that the man standing on those steps had torn my life apart. He was just trying to take care of me, trying to ease a transition he thought was simply overwhelming.

"I'm okay." I managed a weak smile. "Really."

Kaelan moved then. He descended the steps slowly, his eyes never leaving my face. Each step brought him closer and I had to fight the urge to retreat and hide Lily behind me.

He stopped a few feet away, close enough that I could see the rapid pulse beating in his throat. "Rhys." He said, his brow cocked. "You didn't tell me you were bringing guests."

"It was urgent." Rhys replied. "Her daughter needs our help."

Kaelan's gaze dropped to Lily for the first time. His eyes traced her features with an attention that I didn't like.

She had his eyes and the little birth mark behind her ears. Anyone paying attention would see it. I didn't want his attention getting to that point.

I shifted my body slightly, angling Lily away from his scrutiny.

"Lily, baby." I kept my voice light. "Why don't you show Mr. Rhys the butterfly you caught at the rest stop? The picture on your tablet?"

Lily looked up at me with confused eyes but she was used to following my lead. She tugged on Rhys's hand and he crouched down to her level, his attention shifting to whatever she was pulling up on the screen.

It gave me a moment to face Kaelan without my daughter watching.

His eyes snapped back to mine the instant Lily was distracted. They were burning with questions.

"Have we met before?"

I met his gaze and let nothing show. Five years of pretending everything was fine had made me an expert at wearing masks. Five years of smiling at doctors and teachers and employers while my world crumbled around me. Five years of being strong when I wanted to end it all.

This was just another performance. In fact, it was the most important one of my life.

"No." I said flatly. "I don't think so."

A muscle twitched in his jaw. "Are you sure? You seem... familiar."

"I have one of those faces." I shrugged. "People say that to me all the time."

Kaelan stared at me for a long moment. I could see the war happening behind his eyes. The certainty battling with my denial. He knew. Some part of him knew exactly who I was. But I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of confirming it.

Let him wonder. Let him doubt himself. Let him feel even a fraction of the confusion and pain I had felt when he disappeared.

"Elara." Rhys straightened up, Lily's hand still clasped in his. "This is my brother, Kaelan."

Brother. So I had been right.

"Nice to meet you." I said the words without warmth, like he was any other stranger being introduced at a party.

"The pleasure is mine." He said, his voice was tight. "How did you come to meet my brother?"

"At a hospital." Rhys answered before I could. His hand found my back again, that same protective gesture that seemed to come naturally to him. "Lily was having an … episode. The doctors didn't know how to help her. I recognized what was happening and offered assistance."

"How fortunate." Kaelan's eyes tracked Rhys's hand on my back. His jaw clenched visibly. "And you decided to bring her here? To Thornwood?"

"She needs help that only we can provide." Rhys's voice carried a hint of steel. "I wasn't going to leave her to struggle alone."

The emphasis on alone seemed to land somewhere sensitive.

"Of course." He said quietly. "We should never leave people to struggle alone."

I almost laughed. The hypocrisy was staggering. But I swallowed the sound and kept my face neutral.

Lily tugged on my hand. "Mommy, I'm hungry. And my legs are tired."

The impromptu complaint broke some of the tension. I crouched down and brushed the hair from her face, grateful for the excuse to look away from Kaelan.

"I know, baby. We're going to go inside soon and find you something to eat."

"Do they have chicken nuggets?"

"I don't know. We'll have to ask."

"I want the dinosaur kind."

Despite everything, a small smile tugged at my mouth. "We'll see what we can do."

When I straightened up, Rhys was watching me with something soft in his eyes. Something that made my heart flutter in a completely different way than Kaelan's presence did.

"The kitchen staff can make anything she wants." He said gently. "Dinosaur nuggets included."

"You don't have to go to any trouble."

"It's no trouble." His voice dropped lower. "You're exhausted. Let me take care of things tonight. Just rest."

The words wrapped around me like a warm blanket. I wanted to lean into them. I wanted to let someone else carry the weight for just a little while.

But I could feel Kaelan's eyes on us. I could feel the heat of his stare boring into the side of my face.

"Thank you." I said to Rhys. "For everything."

His smile was small but genuine. "You don't need to thank me. Come on. Let's get you both inside."

He offered his hand to Lily and she took it without hesitation. They started up the steps together, my daughter chattering about dinosaur nuggets and whether the house had a TV and if she could watch cartoons before bed.

I followed a few steps behind, acutely aware of Kaelan falling into step beside me.

"You're certain we haven't met?" His voice was low. "I could have sworn—"

"I think I would remember." I cut him off, still not looking at him. "You have a very memorable face."

"So I've been told."

We climbed the steps in silence. Just before we reached the entrance, Kaelan spoke again.

"How old is your daughter?"

That was a question that I hadn't been expecting him to ask.

"Five." I said simply. "She just turned five."

I felt rather than saw him do the math. Five years. The same amount of time since he had walked away from me without looking back.

I didn't wait for his response. I stepped through the doors, leaving him standing at the entrance with his questions, suspicions and guilt.

He wanted answers? He could choke on the silence.