Ellis Parker is a lucky man: he escaped his persecuting family, survived his tour of duty, and met Maxwell Clark in the city of New Amsterdam. Clark showed Ellis more than the ropes: Clark helped Ellis figure out who he is -- a gay submissive with a massive fixation on a beautiful, mysterious ballet dancer named Bryn Rothe. Ellis knows a Good Man when he sees one, and he wants nothing more than to score a first date with Bryn.<br><br>Little does Ellis know that Bryn has a violent past that is crawling out of shallow graves to haunt him. Even his hectic schedule and beloved stage aren’t enough to distract him. It’s impossible for Bryn to figure out how he feels about Ellis with his demons between them, but when Ellis saves Bryn not once but twice, Bryn is forced to admit that there’s something about Ellis that Bryn might not merely want but need.<br><br>Together, they journey to the scene of Bryn’s original crime -- Charles Towne, South Carolina. There they will dig up secrets that might explain Bryn’s tortured life but might also be his -- and Ellis’s -- undoing.

Earthquakes

He never imagined human beings were doing the watching. He envisioned mythical creatures. Fairies, gnomes, elves, and high kings and queens were in attendance. They were there to see him and only him, and he would give them everything he had.


There were gods out there, in the blackness, and they were the only ones who ever judged him to be worthy and true. For that, he would give them his soul in pieces and parts: one for every turn, one for every jump, and ten for every chorus of applause. He’d parcel himself out until there was nothing left. Until the final curtain fell, and he could only bow, spent and weary and perfect in their eyes.


In these moments, Bryn was more than alive. He was whole.


Chapter 16