Page 192 of The Last Guardian

“You have no right to look at me like that,” I said, my voice trailing off. “You have no right…” The words broke in my throat.

“Alyana, please let me see to your injuries,” Zaid implored, his eyes brimming with worry.

“Don’t come near me! Stop pretending to care…”

No. I would not let myself be sad. It was anger bubbling through my veins.

Zaid looked at me, trying to figure out what to say. I knew the emotion; it was the same on my face. Devastation.

His gaze locked onto mine, seeking answers through my eyes.

Hells, watching him was so painful, pure torture.

My heart⁠—

“I didn’t know you! I didn’t know…” he said, his voice breaking.

I scoffed, shaking my head. “I don’t think that’s a good excuse.”

“But it’s the truth,” Zaid whispered, boring his eyes into mine.

“Why—why didn’t you tell me?”

His jaw clenched. “I am still supposed to—” Zaid stopped talking, closing his eyes as something struck him.

If my heart hadn’t already shattered, that would have done it.

I let out a bitter laugh. “What are you waiting for then?” I opened my arms as I looked straight into his eyes. “Come on, I am here alone with you. Clearly at your mercy. Do it.”

If Zaid decided to kill me, I wouldn’t stop him. I didn’t have the strength—and I didn’t have the will. If he struck now, I wouldn’t want to live through it. That would destroy me. To know he tried.

But Zaid didn’t move. He just… didn’t.

His jaw clenched so tight that the muscles jumped, his neck stiff, the veins popping out, pulsing.

The world stopped, too many words hanging between us.

Of what we could have been, what we could have lived. Of what had broken and what had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Why does everyone want to kill me?” I asked, and the walls around my heart built up.

Zaid glanced at the blue light—the power dancing around the room. “Because of this… power. The Last Guardian.” His eyes returned to mine.

“What does it have to do with me?”

A low chuckle traveled from his chest. “You are lying to yourself,” Zaid said with disbelief in his voice. “Deep down, you know. The cave, the relic, the voice that talks to you in your dreams.”

“Kraktos said the Sankyanoia doesn’t need a wielder—the Last Guardian can wield its own power.”

Zaid looked at me in a way that made me want to smash his face. Very. Hard. Like the answer was written in front of me. “Do you see any Guardians around right now?” Zaid asked.

I looked around the room… tried to see a shadow, a noise… But nothing.

“I don’t know!” I snapped. “Nothing is precise about the Sankyanoia. Not the color, not the form… For all I know, it could be the silvery light itself!”

I pointed out the power, which flared up the moment I looked at it.

“The answer is right in front of you⁠—”