James went still, his features clouded with guilt, and I could see the battle raging behind his eyes, the flicker of indecision, remorse, and sadness even.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke.
“You’re right.” The words came out low and rough, like they had been dragged from the depths of his soul. “I haven’t been fair to you.” He paused, his throat working as he swallowed hard. “And I need to be.”
His admission hit me like a tidal wave, a mix of relief and heartache surging through me. I wanted to believe him, to hold on to those words, but they felt like glass—delicate, fragile, and too easy to break. I opened my mouth, then closed it again,unable to rely on my voice. Instead, I met his gaze, hoping he could see the whirlwind of emotions tearing through me.
“I’m sorry,” he added, softer this time. “I should’ve told you everything sooner.”
He took a step closer, but then stopped, as if unsure of how to bridge the distance between us. The pressure was unbearable, the kind that pulled at every fiber of my being. My heart ached, but still, I said nothing. His promises were so tenuous, so easily undone. I couldn’t bear to hold them too tightly, not when I feared they would crumble in my hands.
He hesitated, then searched my face for something I wasn’t sure I could give him—reassurance, maybe, or forgiveness.
Finally, he straightened his spine, determination replacing the uncertainty that had clouded his features. “I want that foundation for us. I want this to work. And I know what I have to do,” he said, his voice steadier now, though it carried a hint of desperation. “But before I can, I need to talk to someone first.”
I frowned, confusion mingling with a familiar hollow inside me. “Who?” I whispered, slightly fearful of what would happen next.
His lips pressed into a thin line, as if he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give me an answer. “Please,” he said, his tone almost pleading. “Wait for me. I’ll be back.”
The finality in his words sent a chill through me. Before I could ask him what he meant, he turned away. A shimmering portal began to form in the space beside him, the air crackling with energy as it took shape. The green light from it bathed his face, casting his expression into one filled with hope.
He glanced back at me one last time, his gaze lingering, burning this moment into memory. Words hovered on the edge of his lips, unspoken, unformed. But I sensed them all the same.
A breath. A heartbeat.
Then he moved.
Two strides. That was all it took to close the space between us before his hands were on me—one curling around the back of my neck, the other fisting the fabric of my shirt as if letting go wasn’t an option. His lips crashed against mine, desperate, consuming, a kiss that tasted like goodbye before either of us could say the word.
Heat flooded through me, warring with the ice curling in my chest. I kissed him back as fiercely, my fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer, trying to steal whatever I could before it was too late. His breath was ragged, his body pressed flush against mine, like he was carving this moment into both of us.
And then—too soon, too suddenly—it was over.
He pulled back, his forehead brushing mine for the briefest second, a silent promise, or maybe an apology. Then he turned without another word, stepping through the portal.
The energy rippled in his wake, the space where he’d stood collapsing in on itself, and just like that—he was gone.
The room felt emptier, as if he’d taken a piece of it with him. A piece ofmewith him. I stared at the space he’d filled a moment ago, my mind racing with the things I didn’t say, the questions I didn’t ask.
A slow ache settled behind my sternum, and for the first time, I wondered if waiting for him again would break me completely.
PART 2
REVELATIONS
TWELVE
EMMA
As I sat there, staring at the fading remnants of James’s portal, a deep sense of emptiness washed over me. The space around me was too quiet, too still, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to do. The enormity of everything that had happened—the fight, the anger, his leaving without a full explanation—settled over me like an unbearable force.
But one thing became clear: there was nowhere I belonged more right now than by James’s side. Not only because I was desperate for answers, but because I couldn’t shake the feeling this was bigger than me, bigger than us.
Whatever he was about to face, whoever he wanted to talk to, I had to be there. I needed to understand what was really going on in his world, and I needed him to see I wasn’t the enemy. He couldtrustme. I had to prove to James I wasn’t here to betray him, had to prove I could handle the truth, no matter how messy or painful it was.
Then came the self-accusation. A sudden pang, deep in my chest, as I thought about the one thing I still hadn’t told him.My healing powers. The secretIwas keeping fromhim. I had told myself I wasn’t ready to share it, but now I realized I was as guilty of hiding things from him as he was from me.
I hated it. The creeping sensation of dishonesty, the weight of the secret I was carrying. But I’d pushed it aside, telling myself I wasn’t ready yet. That I ought to understand my own powers first. But was it really the reason? Or had my belief in James taken too much of a hit?
