His fingers are trembling.
“You’re shaking,” I say, my voice barely more than a breath.
When he says nothing, I glance past him for the first time, and something in my chest tightens.
There’s a crack running down the plaster, just above the sideboard. A vase shattered in the corner, with ceramic fragments all over the carpet.
The room is a mess.
I hadn’t even noticed before.
“I…” My voice trails off.
I don’t know what I meant to say.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.
Concern, maybe. Fear. Pity. Anger.
But all I can manage is this aching, helpless confusion. I don’t understand at all, I realize.
I don’t understandhimat all. He’d always seemed so put together. So reliable.
“You’re hurt,” I say quietly.
That makes him laugh.
Not loudly. Not bitterly. Just… laughs. A soft, unsteady thing.
“You’re concerned for me,” he says eventually, and his tone is almost disbelieving.
I don’t answer. I just nod.
Kai watches me for a moment longer. “You should be more careful where you place your faith,” he says through a sigh, and drags a bloodied hand through his hair, pushing it back off his forehead.
There’s a red smear above his temple now, and it stands out massively against his face. He doesn’t seem to notice.
Or maybe he just doesn’t care.
“Oh, Adeline,” he says finally, a ghost of something almost fond curling at the edges. “You really are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. You made it far too easy for me. And I can’t decide if that makes you remarkable… or just terribly naïve.”
I blink at him, confused.
“You should go,Soreya,” he murmurs, his gaze dropping to the floor beneath us as he steps back. “You were never meant to stay.”
I open my mouth, close it again. There are so many things I want to ask. So many things I don’t understand. But the look on his face stops me.
There’s something about his eyes I hadn’t noticed before.
Like he’s walked through a thousand storms and never found his way out.
Something broken sits just behind them, tucked neatly away so nobody can see. Something tired. Something resigned.
Somethingangry.
I take a step back. Then another.
I hesitate for a few moments. But before I can question myself on why, I walk away from him, and out the door.
