Page 161 of Tears for a Broken Sky
His breath caught—sharp, unsteady. “You… you’re a traitor,” he said. “You betrayed—”
But he stopped. Like the words had slipped through his fingers.
“A traitor?” I echoed. “To whom? Toyou? Never, Thorne. Not once. To Vael?” I laughed—low and bitter. “Always.”
“It doesn’t matter, does it? I can’t help you, can I? Not unless…” I said. “They’ve put these things in your head. And only you can fight it. Not me. And soon. Before—”
I cut myself off.
“I loved Slade.” My voice cracked.
“The one you let die, remember?”
A tremble rippled through my chest. I couldn’t bring myself to think about him yet. It was still too raw in my chest.
I was clinging to that small, fragile sliver of hope that I was wrong. That somehow my dagger made it to his hand in time.
Because if it didn’t?
I’m already dead.
“I love him. And Phoenix. And Leo.”
My eyes burned.
“And you,” I added, quieter now. “Gods, Thorne. Isn’t that the worst part? I hate you. I loathe you, and still…somehow you still got in. And no matter what you do—I can’t get you out.”
“I keep seeing you in my head, from that night. The way you stood between Vael and I. You held your sword like you would die for me and it was worth it. Do you remember that?”
He didn’t speak. Didn’t move.
“I never felt like I was worth much before. I’ve always believed there was something in me that was less, you know? But for that moment, I felt real. I felt important. For the right reasons. Like someone could love me the way I always wanted.”
I sat with my back to the door, and I was sure—sure—he was doing the same on the other side.
“You know,” I whispered, “I’ve been trapped before. I’ve been angry. I’ve been alone. But this…”
I looked around my cell.
“This is something else.”
I drew my knees up and hugged them close. My body ached. My chest ached more.
“How does this end, Thorne?” I asked. “Do you even care anymore?”
The tears came easily now. Quiet. Exhausted.
“Your town,” I whispered. “The one in your memory. It looked… nice.”
A pause.
“Pretty, even.”
I closed my eyes.
“I wish I was there.”
A breath.
