When she opened them, she could have sworn she saw Tharin standing there, not Kellan. So she shut them again.

The yelling stopped.

‘Open your eyes.’ His voice had never been softer; she flung them open. Kellan kneeled, with one hand gently stroking her thigh. His eyes widened as he bit his lower lip back. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m not angry at you. I promise.’

She was still shaking but nodded at him. Her breaths were ragged, and worry laced his eyes when she looked upon him.

Her adrenaline was too high; she stood up but quickly stiffened when he got up as well. He towered over her. She knew what he said was true; she knew he wasn’t angry at her. And she hated that she compared him to Tharin, but she couldn’t get it out of her head.

‘I’m sorry.’ She whispered before running to her room and locking the door behind her.

chapter twenty-four

chapter twenty-four

bethan kore

bethan stared at the ceiling, clutching her chest in a futile attempt to control her breathing. She buried herself underneath the dark-green quilt of her childhood bed. She missed sleeping there, the safety of it all, how she would wake up and go downstairs to her mother making breakfast and her father reading in his study. She could reach for her favourite books on the shelves, admire the posters of the singers she used to love. She could sneak into Dana’s room and rummage through her closet or lay in her bed and trade secrets with her.

But her room was bare; the walls had no posters, only the remains of tacks she used to hold them up. Her shelves were empty, since she took them all with her when she went to Hadwicke’s. Dana was no longer down the hall playing loud music. It was Kellan who yelled at her in a way Tharin would have.

She let Tharin do that to her. He made her act that way, and she couldn’t remember why. Glimpses of that night take over her mind now and again, and when Kellan yelled, that’s what had happened. Tharin took control, and he was not even present.

She could never escape the claws that probably lived underneath his skin.

She spent so much time comparing Kellan and Tharin and judging Kellan based on Tharin’s actions. That was unfair and unreasonable. Kellan should’ve been allowed to raise his voice; deep down, she knew he wasn’t yelling at her, just speaking loudly. She had yelled at him countless times. Tharin didn’t even yell. He screamed at her, and she was stuck there, unable to move.

Why?

Why couldn’t she move?

And with that thrumming she had felt earlier, her magic returned. It came back, even though it was only for a little while.