Kael brings them to me, setting them in my hands carefully, like they’re fragile.
“Bathroom?”he asks.
“Yes,” I manage.
He walks me there.Finn stays two steps behind.Atlas hovers at the door of the bedroom, watching the hallway, shoulders blocking half the frame like a wall.
Inside the bathroom, I turn the lock.
Or try to.
It slips once.
Twice.
My fingers shake too hard.
I close my eyes.
Three seconds pass.
Then Finn’s voice comes through the door.“Wren?You okay?”
I swallow.“Yeah.”
The lock clicks.
I dress quickly, hands trembling hard enough I almost put my shirt on backward.My hair drips onto the floor.My towel lies in a heap that makes my stomach twist when I look at it.
He saw me like that.
In a towel.
Vulnerable.
Cornered.
My throat burns.
I splash cold water on my face and stare at my reflection.
Red eyes.
Blotchy cheeks.
A girl who looks nothing like the one who insisted she could spend one night alone.
I walk out before I can fall apart.
All three of them stand in my tiny hallway, taking up the entire space.
Kael looks at me first.
His eyes soften.“Okay,” he murmurs.“Okay.Good.”
Finn releases a breath he must’ve been holding the entire time I was gone.“You look—fine.I mean—you look okay.”
Atlas doesn’t say a word.
