Kael's silence stretched so long that Serena thought he might never answer at all.
"Say something," she finally demanded, voice shaking with a mixture of fear and fury she couldn't fully separate. "Anything. Because right now your silence is telling me exactly what I already suspected—that you've known something about us this entire time and decided I wasn't allowed to know it."
"It's not that simple."
"It's exactly that simple." She pulled her hand back from his, the Moonmark's light fading completely between them, the sudden absence of that warmth leaving her colder than she expected. "Either tell me the truth, or admit you never intended to."
Mira shifted uncomfortably, edging toward the door. "I'm going to give you two some space—"
"Stay," Serena said. "I'm done being managed in p
