"It's not that simple." She stepped closer, desperation creeping into her tone. "I can't just abandon everything I've sworn to protect. But that doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you."
I looked at her properly. Really looked. She seemed smaller somehow, diminished. "Arielle, you came here to make yourself feel better."
Her breath caught. “That's not... I came because we are friends. And now I feel like I've lost that. Lost you. Because of something I can't control.”
Tension stretched between us, thick with hurt and misunderstanding.
“You’re right. You can't control any of it,” I said finally, my voice softer but no less bitter. “But I’m sure you suspected what he'd do.”
“No.” Her eyes went wide.
“Really? Because I don’t believe that.” I stood up, the journal sliding off my lap onto the floor. “You’re his advisor. You know him.”
Arielle's shoulders sagged. "Okay…Maybe I did suspect something. But maybe I didn't want to believe he'd actually go through with it." She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Well, he did.”
"He just wants to protect you."
"That doesn't excuse what he's done."
"No, it doesn’t," she agreed, taking another tentative step forward. "I know you hate him right now. I know you probably hate all of us. But Wolfe... I think he’s just terrified of losing you again. He loves you."
"I don't even remember loving him in the first place," I fumed.
"But you did." Arielle's voice grew stronger, more insistent. "I saw it, Elariya. The way you two were together…it was like watching two halves of the same soul find each other. That kind of love... it doesn't just disappear because of a curse."
"It did for me."
“Elariya—”
“Stop it!” My hands flew up to my temple, and I shook my head. “Just stop. Stop telling me how I felt and how good we were together. I don’t want to hear it. I want to go home. So, unless you have a way to make that happen, don’t talk to me.”
The light went out of Arielle's eyes, and something crumpled in her expression—disappointment mixed with genuine grief.
I thought she was going to pursue the discussion, but she didn’t.
She simply dipped her head and left.
I almost felt bad for her. And for myself.
From what I'd written about Arielle, I could see that I'd once considered her as dear to me as Emabelle. Like a sister. Like family. All of that felt foreign to me now.
I turned and faced the window once more, watching the rain.
The problem here wasI’d trusted.
But truthfully, the only person I could trust was myself.
I was the only one here who knew Thayden’s capabilities.
I understood the wider picture. The dark forces who’d wanted me to find the ring quite likely used Thayden to get to me. I still had questions about that, like why didn’t they strike while I was with my family? But I believed it was them.
The fact that Thayden was in league with them, whether knowingly or not, was the issue we should all be paying attention to. It meant if he could outsmart Wolfe once, he’d do it again. It meant Thayden could find a way to evade whatever ploy Wolfe set in motion to protect my family. It meant I couldn’t rely on Wolfe or anyone to protect them.
Justme.
The answer hit me with perfect clarity.
