Chapter 22

Emily’s POV

Nathan’s gaze moved across the dinner hall ‒ slow, sharp, searching. Then his eyes found mine. And stopped.

The noise around me faded. For a second, it was only him. His golden-brown eyes held mine, and something passed between us. Something quiet. Something unfinished.

Then Stella slid her hand over his arm. Her fingers moved slowly up to his shoulder, soft and deliberate. She leaned close to his ear and whispered something I couldn’t hear.

Nathan didn’t look away from me at first. So Stella lifted her hand and brushed his jaw, turning his face toward her. Like she was reminding him where he was supposed to look.

Nyx growled inside my head. “Fake. She is such a fake. How does he not see through that bitch? Everything about her is a lie.”

I looked down at my plate before anyone could see my expression.

What had I expected? He had carried me out of a club. He had taken me to the lake to help me calm down. It was so h