Chapter 121

Liam

By the time I got Alaria alone, the tension in me had reached its breaking point.

Between Kai’s injury, Selene’s lies, and Amelia nearly bleeding out, everything inside me was a storm. But the second the door shut behind us and it was just her and me… it was like all that frustration had only one outlet.

She stood by the balcony, arms crossed tight, her face hard. But I knew her too well., I could see the cracks in her armor, the way her shoulders trembled even as she tried to hold herself together. She did not even turn to face me when I walked inside.

“Alaria,” I said lowly, stepping closer. “Don’t shut me out. I know that you don't want to talk to me. Right now is not the time to shut me out.”

“I’m not shutting you out,” she snapped, though her voice broke at the edges. “I’m trying not to fall apart. There’s a difference. And I think that you know very well why I would choose not to speak to you if I'm choosing to shut you out,