Mey looked down on her hands. “So you’ve known… all this time?”
I sobbed, trying to push it down again as I nodded.
Nate and Mey exchanged indescribable looks. Ashley sighed heavily, and without hesitation swung her arms around me.
“Wait—” I urged, not sure if she’d get burned by my flames or not.
But nothing happened, except her warm embrace around me.
“It must’ve been lonely,” she said, as she began patting my back.
Her words broke mecompletely.
CHAPTER
23
The others took it better than I had expected; perhaps the fact that Mey had been revealed before me made it easier to swallow, even though this was completely different.
Mey had never lied, I had.
Malakai wandered around restlessly, while I sank to my knees in the dirt, waiting. Ashley was fascinated with my abilities, perhaps because they reminded her of explosions. Mey was curious, but a bit cautious too, while Nate did his best to remain objective about it.
My eyes had locked onto the horizon where Lionel had dashed away. The longer I waited, the more my body shrunk, realizing that perhaps he had been right. I had killed our friendship, smothered the possibility of us becoming more.
Was this how it felt, losing a part of yourself? The only comfort I found was that now that he knew, I had no more secrets, it was all in the open.
“It’s been hours,” Nate reminded us, watching the sunlight from above. “Maybe… we should move? We’re kind of limited in our supplies.”
Mey shot him a glare, and he waved his hands like a white flag.
Ashley squatted down with me, taking my hands in hers. “I know it hurts… but you can’t change who you are, even if you want to.”
I met her icy blue eyes and nodded, feeling hollow. She dragged me up on my feet, I had been sitting on them for so long that I wobbled.
I took one last glance towards the glade, but it was still empty, so we turned around and left the site behind us.
“I kind of understand him, though,” Nate murmured as we began our walk.
“Nate!” Mey hissed angrily.
“Hear me out, I’m not saying I want to quit, I only think he was surprised.” He glanced over at me. “You’ve grown up together, right?”
I nodded, since words kept falling away from me.
“I was shocked too, about you,” Nate said, pointing at Mey. “But… you’re still you. Maybe he simply needs time to see that for himself?”
My eyes were glued to the ground, another polite nod.
“Yeah, he’s a good tracker right? He’ll probably catch up soon,” Mey added, trying to cheer me up.
They were too nice, too optimistic. There was not a chance in hell that he’d forgive me. If he came back, it would be because he felt guilty about his duty, not for me.
“He’s a douche,” Ashley said, her voice clarifying her annoyance. “He should’ve listened and tried to understand instead of running away… douche.”
Her attitude made my lips curl slightly. My eyes locked on to Malakai’s back, and slowly my smile disappeared again.
‘Has he told you all this?’. Yes, Malakai was the one who changed my focus. I was still debating the probability of him being a temptation demon, but I hadn’t had a chance to test my theory.
