I had all, most, some and now none of you

His breaths came in ragged breaths as he searched the horizon for a lifeline that wasn’t coming. He was too tired to pace, but his body swayed with the breeze as it raced over the ocean. Again Rhyme found himself alone with tumultuous thoughts, and craved that forbidden drink that tempted him with promises of erasing his problems, if only for a fleeting moment. He refrained for now, but had made up his mind to seek one of those ichor bottles out to soothe his feral mind.

”Rhyme.”

It was both the most beloved and loathed voice, the voice of love and reason when he wanted hate and destruction. He turned, eyes wild with pain as he looked Shaye over. Her presence was gentle, and she offered him understanding as she asked him what had brought him to this state. His distress so obvious she had known to come to him only by the position of his ravens. Rhyme didn’t deserve her.

Breathing still ragged he looked at her for a long moment as he stood silhouetted against the darkening sky. He felt like he had come to yet another turning point in his life. He had two paths to walk, one led him to the welcoming darkness and the other the hard light of truth.

”Valentine doesn’t deserve my mother’s loyalty.” He stated, his voice oddly icy with the fire that flickered behind his eyes. ”She would rather stand with him than her own son.” There was venom in the last word. ”I have to take her, Shaye. I can’t live knowing that he has her at his side instead of mine.” His head lowered as his eyes bored into the ground, his long black fur whipping around his face in the wind. He knew that Shaye would never approve of his vendetta, but just thinking about Rhythm with Valentine after all he’d done made Rhyme’s blood boil.