The silence was unbearable.
Rain trickled from the edges of the roof, each drop echoing in the tiny wooden cabin like a countdown.
Sebastian stood rigid, blocking Isabella's view of Liam, his hand still near his weapon but his stance no longer purely defensive it was conflicted. Torn.
Liam's eyes, bloodshot and burning, were fixed on Isabella, then darted back to Sebastian.
"You didn't tell her," Liam rasped. "Of course you didn't."
"Not here," Sebastian warned again, his voice cold but shaking beneath the surface.
Liam gave a bitter laugh, stumbling forward. "No, she deserves to know. After everything she's survived, after what you let them do to her she deserves the truth."
Isabella's heart pounded in her ears. "What truth?" she whispered. "What are you both hiding from me?"
Neither man answered immediately. The rain grew heavier, the wind pressing against the shutters like impatient fingers.
Then Liam said it.
