“I’m sorry, I must not have heard you correctly. It sounds like you want to dig up the grave of our son?!” Wyatt started, voice raising with each word. His tone wasn’t angry; there was no aggressive breathing or forehead veins popping.
No, Wyatt was confused—flabbergasted even, and I couldn’t blame him.
“I know what it sounds like. Trust me,” I made sure to look him in the eye, “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have a good reason.”
“And that good reason would be?” He inquired.
My gut feeling but I can’t exactly use that. Instead, I ignored his concerns and kept walking. I winced as Noa came up behind me and gently placed his heavy hand on my shoulder.
I’m not normally so sensitive to touch or pressure.
“Goddess, please let me carry you. Watching you move in so much pain is killing me.” Noa begged softly.
I shouldn’t take offense at that. I should be happy for the help but something about everyone babying me all the time was irritating me.
Or maybe it wasn’t that. Maybe I was finally snapping from Wyatt’s lies and Rupert's games.
“System.” I brushed off Noa, still holding a hand to my gut as I walked down the stairs to the basement.
[Sapph…Sapph you look like shit.]
I smiled at her attitude. She’s the only thing that feels real right now.
“At least I have a face to look at , miss ones and zeroes.”
[Did you summon me just to abuse me or did you have something that actually needed to be done? You know, other than watching yourself struggle with—]
“Damage from Hyperion.” I quickly cut her off. “Between that and breaking my arm on that door…I’m not healing like I should be.” Nodding at a shyly smiling Guy, I gave him a thumbs up and continued.
“I think Iapetus is causing our regeneration to stop but I don’t have time to search for him.”
Wyatt fell in step with me, eyes narrowed on me.
“System, what is Sapphyra’s current health status?” He asked.
“Don’t you answer that!” I hissed at her but glared at him, “she is not yours.”
“I built her.” He crossed his arms, eyebrows and mouth set in a relaxed line. “Tell me what is happening to you and do not give me any of that bullshit about Hyperion or a door.”
Guy leaned into Noa. “Are we missing something here?”
Noa nodded. I guess he would understand considering he’s Wyatt’s other half. “Just watch.”
“Sapphyra. Please. You want me to be honest with you but it has to go both ways,” I barked out a bitter laugh. The audacity of this asshole.
“Both ways huh?”
“It must, otherwise you are no better than me.”
He had me there. I liked it from atop my high horse most days but sometimes…sometimes the darkness almost won within me.I glanced down at my wedding ring.
“You’ve been rubbing that every few minutes.” Wyatt said, worry tangled in his voice.
“Just thinking about how I’ll never really be free from you.” I sighed.
Whatever the basement had been before, It was completely overrun by giant mushrooms and thick, wild vines.The humidity in the room had my hair sticking to my face.
“The grave isn’t much farther.”
“You still haven’t said why you want to see it.” I felt Guy on my left, he placed an arm around my waist and just held me. I leaned into his body, feeling smaller than I ever have in my life.
“Rhea, she used our son to get to us. Then at the trial, Bayani brought up Barnaby again and I couldn’t help but wonder, what do they know about our boy that we don’t?” My voice broke but I kept walking, speaking through the tears.
“Who the fuck would desecrate the grave of a child?” Noa growled low and menacing.
“We don’t know that they did—not yet. It’s Schrodinger's cat…right, Wyatt?”
He’d stopped walking. For a moment, just a breath, I saw the machine that was my husband, break. His amber eyes watered and he quickly wiped the tears away, sucking the emotion back down.
“We don’t know if they did anything to him. I pray that they didn’t.” He didn’t have to say the rest of the threat, I already knew what he was gonna say.
He would end them. And the darkest part of me said good. Let them die. How awful am I?
We stopped when our ankles were deep in water and we hit the small tomb of our son. I glanced at Wyatt, a curious brow raised. It wasn’t in a tomb the last time I saw it.
He shrugged.
“When you stopped visiting, I had him moved to a bigger spot.” Wyatt glanced away from me, eyeing the watery floor. “I wanted our boy comfortable, and a tiny box in the ground is not comfortable.”
I wanted to hug him, kiss him and thank him for that. It’s easy to forget that Wyatt is human, he just has a lack of empathy for anyone that he doesn’t love. Even then, his empathy falls short when danger appears.
Is that why he kidnapped Barbie?
“Wyatt…you had to carry on when I was—” I often forget how much he had to endure while I was down. There were so many days when I felt like checking out on life but every time, he was right there.
How can I reconcile that man with the one I see today? The one who trapped me for a century to “save” me?
He waved me off. “There’s no need to bring it up. What’s done is done.”
Guy scratched the back of his head, looking uncomfortably between the two of us.
“So…who’s gonna open the door? Or do we say knock knock first.” He nervously laughed when Wyatt and I bore our gazes into him. “Nevermind, shutting up now.”
“I’ll do it.” Noa volunteered, stepping forward. I held out a hand and pushed him back.
“No.” It was a little easier to walk now but my body still felt like it was tearing itself apart. Maybe a health check from System wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. Right after I commit this sin.
“It has to be me.” I said, leaving no room for argument.
They didn’t stop me as I ascended the steps to my baby boy's tomb. Marble and gold tiling but the walls were made of the same material as that door in the ark. I clenched my fist and walked in, determined to bring it up later with Wyatt.
On a large pedestal, within a dark glass box that seemed undisturbed, I saw a bundle and immediately relaxed. He was wrapped in the same navy blue blanket with white stars my mother made for him.
Still. I had to know for sure.
I steeled myself and opened the box carefully, expecting a smell but the box was cool to the touch. Even with the power off, Wyatt had our baby frozen and comfortable.
At least that was my initial thought. But when my hand reached down to pull back the covers, there was no Barnaby. There was only a rock with a note tied to it. A note with only four words.
You almost had him.
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