Free.
That word didn't just slap me... it burned me alive. Like he had taken my heart out, ripped it to shreds, and left me choking on the ashes. My lungs emptied all at once, and when I tried to drag air back in, it scraped, shallow, like the oxygen itself had turned against me.
I'd asked him for this before. Over and over. End it, Kael. Let me go. I'd begged for it out of cowardice, out of fear. But never because I wanted freedom from him. No... I never wanted freedom. I wanted him. Only him.
And now that he was finally giving me what I asked for, it felt like being gutted alive.
Are we really over?
The question screamed inside my skull, but my throat stayed locked, trembling in silence as the seconds ticked by.
He turned, like the conversation was already dead.
Something inside me snapped. Anger surged... misplaced, unjustified, but so sharp it cut through the pain.
"Do you really mean that?" My voice cracked, but it carried across the space between us.
