Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(38)

Rage lit and blasted through me, burning my insides in its wake. She’d been too young to truly understand what that threat could mean, but some part of her had intuited it. No wonder she balked at touch of any kind. She’d been brutalized and threatened with worse.

I struggled to breathe properly, to get words out. Sadly, when they came, they weren’t useful ones. “None of that came out in court. I read the articles—”

Shiloh’s head snapped up, her eyes glassy. “I didn’t tell anyone. They thought the bruises came from him getting me away from the fair. From the actual kidnapping. But it was after.”

I went stock-still. “Why didn’t you tell your parents? Someone?”

The tears came again, cascading down her cheeks and falling off her jaw. “I didn’t want anyone to know. I was so ashamed. I felt like it was my fault. That I’d done something…”

I wanted to pull her into my arms again so badly, but I wasn’t sure if it would cause her pain or trigger her. “This could never be your fault. Not in a million years.”

“I know that now. But there were so many years of lies and untruths. I dug myself a hole and couldn’t get out. It only got worse with the letters.”

I moved closer, weaving our fingers together and stroking my thumb across the back of her hand. “I’m so damn sorry you’ve been alone in this. But you’re not alone anymore. I’ll listen any time you want to unload. And you sure as hell don’t have to go to the asshole’s funeral by yourself.”

A small laugh escaped her, and the vise around my chest released a fraction. She twisted the flannel of my shirt between her fingers. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m the kind of broken that won’t ever get put back together right.”

Each of Shiloh’s words hit me like a physical blow. Because I knew that feeling. “Like your insides got rearranged in a way that would never have you on the right side of normal ever again.”

Her gaze lifted to mine. We were close. Too close. That hint of floral…something swirled through me. So close, I could count the freckles dusted across her nose like stars scattered in the sky.

“Sometimes, I know that normal isn’t anything to strive for. But other times? I want it more than my next breath. I feel like I missed out on so much.”

“Then you start fighting to get those pieces back. If there’s something you want to do, we’ll find a way.”

Shiloh’s mouth curved, and her perfect, berry pink lips angled with humor. “You’ve been doing that without even knowing it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to learn about working with horses who had been hurt. You’ve been teaching me for years. I wanted to move off my family’s ranch but was scared to reach for it. You showed me a way.”

They were such simple things. Nothing crazy or extreme. But it gave me a deep sense of pride to know that I’d helped in some way.

“It looks like we need to find some new adventures for you to go on.”

Shiloh laughed, the sound catching on the air and carrying to my ears, filling them with the sweetest sound. She shook her head. “Let’s take it one thing at a time. I’m still learning about the way you work with horses and settling in to living somewhere new.”

“Fair enough.” But I wanted to give Shiloh more. I wanted to give her everything.

Kai let out a whine, and Shiloh turned her attention to him. She rubbed his face and behind his ears. “Feeling neglected?”

“He doesn’t like when your attention is elsewhere.” The little traitor.

He looked up at me with what I swore was a smile. I just shook my head.

Movement caught my attention. I stepped forward, closer to the ridge line. “It’s time.”

Shiloh moved to my side as the coffin was lowered into the earth in the cemetery below.

I turned my focus from the sight below to her. Her eyes were locked on that shiny piece of wood as it disappeared into the hole, a ceremonial shovelful of dirt thrown on top of it.

“He’s gone.”

I heard the desperation in her voice. She so badly wanted this to be the end. I wanted that for her, too. But someone wasn’t done torturing her. And all I wanted to do was rip that person limb from limb.

Shiloh froze, her body going rigid.

I wrapped an arm around her instantly. “What is it?”

She lifted a hand, pointing at a man below. “Ian. Howard’s son. He’s back.”





17





SHILOH





I leaned against the rails of the round pen as Ramsey waited Onyx out. She was in a mood today and had made her opinion about Ramsey in her space crystal clear. As if to punctuate my point, she kicked out at him.

I sucked in a sharp breath as her hoof narrowly missed Ramsey’s hip. I would’ve been cursing up a storm, but the only reaction he showed was to flick his training flag in her direction, drawing a boundary on his space.

Onyx let out a huff of air and gave a healthy buck. Ramsey simply held his ground.

“I don’t know how he stays so calm,” Aidan said softly.

I looked over at the teen. His gaze was riveted on Ramsey, a true case of hero worship in his eyes. While Elliott had given up watching the training, opting to lay in the grass with Kai, Aidan hadn’t moved from this spot for an hour.