Chapter 200
Tristan
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, but the words felt hollow in my mouth. ‘All of us together. We won’t let anything happen to you or anyone else.”
Athena stared at me with those brown eyes that had always been my anchor, and now they looked lost. “What if there isn’t a solution? What if this is
just who I am now?”
The question hit me square in the chest, but I forced myself to stay steady. “Then we’ll learn to live with it. Whatever that means.”
‘Even if I can never touch you again without hurting you?”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to tell her it didn’t matter, that we’d find a way around it. But sitting there, looking at her gloved hands resting carefully on
her lap, I could picture our future.
No more casual touches. No more holding hands while we walked. No more skin against skin when we kissed.
Everything would have barriers between us.
“Even then,” I said, and I meant it, even though it felt like swallowing a needle.
She smiled, but it was wrong. All crooked and broken. “I love you.”
70
‘I love you too.”
We stood up and headed for the door. Athena kept her hands at her sides like they were loaded weapons. She moved differently now, like she was afraid
of her own shadow.
Voices drifted up from downstairs. Sarah and Orion were talking in the kitchen, their words too quiet to make out. The conversation stopped when they
heard our footsteps on the stairs.
“Good morning,” Sarah said when we walked in. She looked relieved to see Athena on her feet, but worry lines creased her forehead. “How are you
feeling, sweetheart?”
“Better,‘ Athena said. The lie came out smooth as silk.
‘Sleep well?‘ Orion asked his sister.
Athena nodded.
Sarah had made breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast sat steaming on the counter, It smelled good, and I realized I hadn’t eaten a real meal in two days. But my stomach felt like it was tied in knots.
We sat around the kitchen table and pretended this was normal. Athena kept her distance from everyone, like we all had some disease she might catch. She pushed her eggs around her plate but barely ate anything.
“Dr. Graze wants to see you today,” Sarah told Athena. ‘Just to make sure you’re healing properly.”
Athena nodded without looking up from her untouched breakfast.
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15:28 Sat, Jan 10 G MR
Chapter 200
‘He doesn’t know about… Orion started, then caught himself.
About what I can do, Athena finished. “I know. What did you tell him?”
That you had a rough shift,” I said. “That it took more out of you than usual,”
“That’s not really lying,” she said quietly.
After breakfast, Orion suggested we get some fresh air. “Maybe sit on the back porch for a bit. The weather’s nice.”
But Athena shook her head hard. “I don’t want to go outside. What if someone sees me? What if I can’t control it?”
370
off.
“You will,” Orion said, but his voice lacked conviction.
‘You don’t know that,” Athena snapped. “None of us know that. We don’t know anything about what’s happening to me.”
The silence that followed felt heavy and uncomfortable. Sarah started clearing dishes just to have something to do. I offered to help, but she waved me
“Why don’t you two go watch TV or something,” she suggested. “Try to take your minds off things.”
Athena and I went to the living room. She sat on one end of the couch, I sat on the other. There was enough space between us for another person. She turned on some morning talk show, but neither of us watched it.
I keep seeing their faces,” she said out of nowhere.
I knew exactly who she meant
“Athena, don’t do this to yourself.”
‘I can’t stop thinking about how they looked afterward. Like empty shells. Like I sucked out everything that made them people.”
“They were going to kill you, they were going to kill all of us,” I reminded her. “You saved our lives. You saved yourself Ath.”
‘By becoming something horrible.”
‘You’re not horrible.‘
She turned to face me, and I saw something broken in her eyes. “Then what am I, Tristan? What do you call someone who kills people just by touching them?‘
I didn’t have an answer. I wanted to have one, but I didn’t know what she was becoming or how to stop it.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
