The silence after the lie was revealed was worse than any scream.
Not just in the room, not just between Seren and Kael, but all throughout the place, it hung in the air. The globe seems to have forgotten how to breathe after taking a breath.
First, Seren felt it in her chest. It was a constriction that seemed heavier than pain, as if her heart had been told a truth so piercing that it was unable to determine whether to beat or stop completely. Her fingers tightened over Kael's, but even that comforting warmth felt... strange, as though her skin was recalling him in a different sequence.
Her attempt to say his name was unsuccessful. She had just referred to him by the name of a stranger she once loved, which was incorrect in sentiment but not in sound.
Across from her, Kael stood f
