“He told me once that he had monsters in his head,” I say softly. “And he tried to outrun them all the time. It was around the time Papa started sending Cesar away on missions. He was gone weeks at a time sometimes and when he returned…”
“He was different,” Artem finishes. It’s a statement, not a question.
“If he came home at all, he would hole up in his room and I wouldn’t see him for days. Other times, he would come here first, before coming home.”
Artem sighs deeply. “I’ve spent so long hating him,” he says.
I feel that sense of being ready to turn a corner when you know there’s something scary around the bend.
Whatever Artem says next will change everything.
He pulls away slightly so that he can look at me. His fingers inch up and he grazes them over my cheek.
“I don’t want to h
