Fallon
The air in the dungeons had been thick with tension, but out here, in the cold corridors of the stronghold, it was suffocating.
I walked away, each step echoing through the stone hallway, but Kane's words followed me like a ghost.
You mean more to me than I can put into words.
Then why did he say what he said to Dorian? Why did he act like I was nothing?
I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as I fought against the heat behind my eyes. I wouldn't cry. Not over this. Not over him.
But it wasn't just what he had said. It was the way he had said itâcold, indifferent, like I was nothing more than another responsibility to him. A trainee. That was all. No matter how much I had started to believe we were something more.
I hated that I had let myself believe it. That I had let myself feel it.
The halls twisted ahead of me, but I barely saw them, my vision clouded with the anger and hurt burning in my chest. Every step I took was harder than the last, my body caught between wanting to flee and wanting to turn back, to demand he say somethingâanythingâthat would make it right.
But I didn't. Because I already knew the answer. Kane Vaelrik wasn't the type to let people in. And I had been a fool to think I was any different.
"Fallon, stop."
His voice was sharp, strained. I ignored it.
Then his hand closed around my wrist, firm but not forceful, pulling me back just enough that I had to turn to face him. The fire in my veins flared at the contact, and for a moment, I hated how natural it felt. How right.
I yanked my arm back, stepping away from him. "Don't touch me."
His jaw tensed, but he didn't let go right away. When he did, it was slow, like he was reluctant to lose the connection. "Just listen to me."
"No," I snapped, my voice trembling with the force of everything I was trying to hold in. "You don't get to do this, Kane. You don't get to tell me I mean nothing to you and then act like youâ" I stopped myself, shaking my head. "I don't even know why I'm surprised. This is who you are, isn't it? You push people away. You act like nothing touches you. Like you don't care."
His brows drew together, a flicker of somethingâguilt, regretâflashing across his face before his expression hardened. "That's not true."
"No?" I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Then why did you say it? Back there, with Dorian?"
Silence stretched between us, thick and unyielding. For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Because I had to."
I let out a sharp breath, shaking my head. "That's not good enough, Kane."
"I know," he said, running a hand through his hair. He looked... frustrated. Angry. But not at meâat himself. "You don't understand. If I had given Dorian any reason to believe that you mattered to meâ"
"You think I don't know that?" I interrupted, my chest tightening. "I know what Dorian was trying to do. I know he wanted to get under our skin. But you didn't have to say it like that. You didn't have to look at me like I was nothing."
His eyes darkened. "You're not nothing."
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding. "Then what am I to you, Kane?"
His mouth opened, then closed. I could see the war raging inside him, the part of him that wanted to say the words and the part that was too afraid to let them out.
I waited. Gave him the chance. Gave us the chance.
But he didn't take it.
The silence was my answer.
I nodded slowly, swallowing against the lump in my throat. "That's what I thought."
I turned on my heel and walked away. And this time, he didn't stop me.