“Wow,” I murmured, my eyes becoming foggy. I wasn’t sad, but filled with a sense of pride. Both of them had always been so soft-spoken, and now they were sitting in a crowded room and sharing their truth with the world.
He turned his head slightly to look at me. I kept staring up.
“You okay, cherub?” he asked, his hand moving, sliding over until his pinky linked with mine.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I just… I didn’t know they were doing that.”
“Testifying?”
I nodded. “Marin barely spoke to anyone besides the children, and even then, she was so quiet and gentle. And Silas… he would shake whenever Father raised his voice.”
Jace’s jaw ticked, but he kept his tone even. “People surprise you when they’re given the chance to be more than what someone made them.”
I swallowed. “I used to think I was protecting them.”
“You were,” he said immediately.
“But I was also part of it.” The words felt strange in my mouth. Not self-punishing. Just honest. “I stood up there beside him. I let them call me the Vessel. Theyworshipedme, Jace. They thought I would lead them to salvation.”
“You didn’t know, baby boy.”
I stared at the faint crack in the ceiling paint.
“I wonder if they hate me.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“If any of them do, that’s misplaced pain,” he said. “But from what I’ve seen? The ones who understand what happened don’t blame you.”
“You’ve seen them?”
“Briefly. In court, hallways… Silas was there when you testified.”
My chest felt fragile all of a sudden. “What? But I didn’t see him!”
“He sat in the back. I didn’t say anything to you about it because I couldn’t place him. He looked familiar, but I didn’t realize that’s who it was until later.”
“Did he…” I hesitated. “Look angry at me?”
“No, he looked like someone who remembered exactly what you did for him.”
The memory flickered—Silas scared and shaking, Father’s hand wrapped around the whip, my own voice cutting through the air, offering to take it instead.
I squeezed Jace’s pinky.
We fell quiet again, staring at the ceiling.
It didn’t look so empty anymore.
It looked like space.
And space, I was learning, didn’t always mean isolation.
Sometimes it meant room to grow.
Jace shifted beside me, and this time he didn’t just let our shoulders touch.
He rolled onto his side and tugged gently at my arm until I turned toward him. I went easily, melting into his warmth. His arm slid around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest.
