Free In Other Worlds by Sherrilyn Kenyon

slid from the bed and pulled a small photo frame out of his nightstand. “I wanted to show this to you. It came by messenger while you were in the hospital.”
    Adron frowned as she handed him the blank frame and turned it on. Static flickered until the image of a fragile brunette woman and a small blond girl appeared.
    The two of them were smiling at him and waving.
    Livia watched his stoic face as her heart filled with warmth over what he’d given them. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
    â€œHi, Commander.” The woman picked up the little girl and kissed her cheek. “On the anniversary of what you did, I just wanted to say thank you. This is my daughter, Dalycia. I don’t know if you remember me or not, but I’m the woman you saved from that psycho, and this is the daughter I had six weeks later. Say hi, Dalycia.”
    â€œHi, Commander.” The little girl waved and smiled with that innocence that came only with childhood. “Thank you for saving my mommy and me.” She unfolded a hand-drawn picture of a man, a woman, and a little girl holding hands in a patch of flowers with a rainbow overhead. “I drew this for you to say thank you. See”—she pointed to the man—“it’s you saving us, and we’re all happy ’cause we’re alive and the bad man isn’t.”
    Livia watched the agony play across his face as the woman and child continued to talk to him.
    All of a sudden, he snarled in outrage and threw the frame against the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
    â€œAdron!” she snapped, losing patience with him.
    He turned on her then with a vicious snarl before he let fly a curse so foul she blushed. “What? Did you think showing me that shit would make all of this okay? Did you think I’d look at them, then cry and say how grateful I am they live while I’m trapped like this?”
    He gestured to the scars that bisected his body and twisted his leg. “What about the children I wanted to have, Livia? I can’t even have sex without spending a month in the hospital, or dying from it.” He cursed again. “All I want is five fucking seconds where I’m not trying to breathe through absolute agony. Five seconds where I can move and not ache to the marrow of my bones.”
    The bitter torment in his eyes scorched her. “I’m only thirty-five years old, and all I have to look forward to is a future where I’ll slowly, painfully disintegrate into an invalid who can’t even wipe his own ass. Do you really think I’m okay with being dependent on you or anyone else? I was an assassin, and now I have less mobility than a withered-up hundred-year-old man. I’m nothing but a worthless piece of shit who should have died that night. And them telling me how grateful they are doesn’t make this okay with me. It never will.”
    His words brought tears to her eyes. She’d stupidly thought it would make him feel better to know how much his sacrifice had meant to the ones he’d saved.
    But she was wrong. Nothing would ever make him feel better.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was just trying to help. But you won’t let anyone help you, will you? You’d rather just wallow in self-pity. Fine. I understand. I won’t bother you anymore.” Her heart breaking for him, she turned with as much dignity as she could manage and left him to it.
    She didn’t stop walking until she reached the sitting room. Wishing for an answer that wouldn’t come, she curled up into a ball on the couch and bit her lip to hold back the tears. She wouldn’t cry.
    But inside, she bled for him. Ached for what he’d once been. Even now she could see him laughing and playing games with his sister and brothers.
    How she wished she’d known him then.
    Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head. Looking up, she found Adron standing beside the couch. His brow was