She doesn’t back away.
“Tell me what happened after Luria.”
“I already told you?—”
“No,” I cut in. “Youtalked aroundit. You never said why you disappeared. You never said why your deployment logs end the month I went dark. You never said?—”
“Because I couldn’t,” she spits, voice cracking. “Because saying it out loud makes itreal.”
I stop breathing.
She’s shaking.
And so am I.
The silence wraps around us, suffocating and thick.
I reach out — not roughly, not like a soldier — and my hand finds her wrist. Her skin is warm. Too warm.
She jerks, but doesn’t pull away.
“Don’t do this,” she whispers.
“Then tell me the truth.”
“Ican’t.”
But before I can speak, she wrenches her arm free and storms toward the door.
She pauses on the threshold. “Stop looking, Vael. For both our sakes.”
Then she’s gone.
And I’m left shaking.
Not with rage.
Not with pain.
With something I haven’t felt since the day I lost her.
Hope.
CHAPTER 7
RYNN
Sleep’s a distant thing now. A memory, maybe.
I’ve got the lights off. The window cracked just enough to let the dry wind whistle through, a low hum that usually calms me. Not tonight.
My body’s still. My mind isn’t.
I curl my knees up under the threadbare blanket, stare at the ceiling like it might whisper answers.
But there’s only silence.
And guilt.
