Davina's POV
How could I just walk away now? How could I abandon the one person who transformed this stifling town into something that felt like sanctuary?
Irvin belonged to this place—his heritage, his identity, his entire bloodline. Meridian ran through his veins completely.
I understood that. I honored it. But that didn't erase my hatred for this suffocating town. And despite how deeply I loved him, I couldn't figure out how to reconcile those conflicting realities into any shared tomorrow.
The bus wheezed to a halt and I stepped aboard, avoiding all eye contact.
I collapsed into a window seat and pressed my forehead against the frigid glass. The scenery rushed by in a haze, though I wasn't really watching. Numbness consumed me.
Not the peaceful variety. The chaotic, dizzying, crushing type. My mind raced so frantically that I couldn't grasp a single coherent thought.
