She didn't know it but Mira broke my heart as she said that.
Her words echoed in my head long after she spoke them.
"I don't know, Jace."
Not yes. Not no. Just three little words that carved me open in ways bullets never could.
I should've been grateful because it wasn't an outright rejection. It wasn't her spitting venom or slamming the door in my face. But it wasn't acceptance either. It was worse. It was a maybe wrapped in thorns, dangling just out of reach.
She was the most beautiful woman I had ever come across. And it was not just about her looks.
I watched her from across the table, the flicker of candlelight catching on her cheekbones, softening her but not softening the words that still stabbed at me.
She didn't know.
And that meant she was still holding on to her hate. She was punishing me with it. Still reminding me that everything I had done to her wasn't forgotten. Her reasons were understandable but it hurt nonetheless.
