The camp appeared between the trees, but I felt no relief at the sight of it. Only more rage.
Every step back was torture, a constant reminder of my own mistake. Of my weakness. Lucian had played his card, and for an instant—for a single, damn instant—I had let him in.
I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached.
It meant nothing.
Freidis growled in my mind, her fury vibrating through every corner of my body.
"Nothing? You kissed him! You let him touch you!"
"I know!" I roared internally, feeling the rage rise up my throat like fire. "Don't remind me!"
But it was impossible to forget.
The heat of his hand on my skin. The pressure of his lips. The brief, hollow moment where there was no hatred, no war, no past. Just him. Just us.
I felt sick.
A guard stationed at the camp entrance glan
