KILLIAN
The sound of her footsteps faded down the corridor, leaving a silence that pressed hard against my ears.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My hand twitched at my side, the echo of her wrist still lingering against my skin. She’d pulled away from me like I was poison, like my silence at that table had proved every one of her worst fears.
And maybe it had.
I turned, bracing both hands against the cold stone wall. The breath I dragged in felt jagged, sharp in my chest. I hadn’t meant for it to play out like that. All I’d wanted was to keep her steady, to shield her from Selene’s venom. But instead… gods, I’d only made it worse.
Her words burned, replaying in my skull. “As if I matter to you.”
The truth I couldn’t say? She did. Too much. More than she should. Enough to terrify me.
I l
