_Zephyr’s POV_
Kael was gone. Thank the stars.
I let out a slow breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and finally stopped pretending to be fine. My shoulders slumped, and I kicked at a dead branch on the ground, watching it snap in half.
So what if he saw me like that?
It didn’t matter. He’d chosen Barrett anyway. He made his decision the moment he turned away from me at the edge of the ridge. I wasn’t the one he came for. I wasn’t the one he cared about. So why should I care what he thinks?
I pressed a hand to my face and wiped away the sweat from my brow. The heat in my cheeks hadn’t faded yet, though. I hated that. I hated that just seeing him had made my heart act stupid.
“He shouldn’t be able to get under my skin like this,” I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?” Elias a
