The silence felt like a weight pressing against my ribs. Tyler stood, tense as a bowstring. Alaric leaned on the counter with his arms crossed, his unreadable eyes fixed on me.
I swallowed, my mouth dry. “I don’t want to call her.”
Tyler tilted his head. “Why not?”
“Why not? Because she told me my entire family is dead because of me.” The words spilled out harsher than I meant, but once they were out, I felt raw. Like I just took a shower and scrubbed every inch of my skin with a pumice stone.
The room went still.
Tyler’s face paled. “She… she said that?”
I hugged myself tighter, nails digging into my arms. “She didn’t scream it. She didn’t cry. She just… said it. Like it was a fact. Like I was some mistake that ruined everything.” My voice cracked on the last word, and I hated it,
