Kael helped me to my feet, his arm slipping around my waist like he’d done it a thousand times before, like it wasn’t new and fragile and strange. The contact was steadying, grounding. I let myself lean into it, just for a moment, drawing strength from the quiet, smoldering anger still radiating off of him. It clung to him like a second skin, a silent vow that he wouldn’t let what happened go unanswered.
We didn’t speak as we left the greenhouse. The shattered silence, the place where Lucas had stood, all of it pressed in around us like ash after a fire. The memory of his laughter still echoed in my head, cruel and taunting. My limbs ached, and my throat still burned from his grip, but I kept moving. One step, then another. Kael stayed close, his pace matched to mine, his gaze constantly
