HAILEY
"Is that what you think?" I ask quietly, the tray suddenly feeling far too heavy in my hands. “That I'm scared of you?"
For a second, Eamon doesn't answer as his eyes stay on mine.
Then slowly, very slowly, his arms fall back to his sides, the movement strangely defeated.
A quiet laugh leaves him.
But it's not that anything is funny.
It's the kind of laugh people make when they're trying very hard not to let something hurt.
"That's what everyone seems to think these days."
The words land somewhere deep inside my chest and I blink.
"What?"
He looks away first toward the window at the end of the hallway. Toward literally anywhere except me.
"My father thinks I'm weak."
The sentence comes out flat.
"Vaelith thinks I'm running away."
A tiny smile pulls at his mouth.
It's
