The ledge sloped toward a crag where the view opened wide; the ocean to the east, endless trees behind. Below, somewhere in the smoke and fog, the ground fell away into nothing. An endless hush of sky and stone.
And for one aching heartbeat, I wondered what it would feel like to let go.
To let the wind take me. To stop clinging to the shape of a girl I no longer recognized.
If I fell, I wasn’t sure I’d even care.
Because what remained of me that still felt like mine?
But I wouldn’t. And, gods help me, I couldn’t.
Too much relied on me, no matter how much I hated it.
Too many eyes, too many hopes, and too many lives hanging in the balance of a girl who had never wanted to carry any of this.
My breath became shallow. My fingers curled around the edge of the rock until they ached.
Even here, at the edge of everything, the fire inside me pulsed. Stubborn and still burning.
With a growl, I yanked the rock from the ground and hurled it as hard as I could. It sailed only a few pitiful feet before plunking into the dirt.
Heat flushed my cheeks—part anger, part embarrassment. “Truly a weapon of war,” I muttered.
“Wynessa!”
His voice.
He was back.
I didn’t turn. “Go away, Erindor.”
Footsteps. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Probably.” I let out a laugh, sharp and thin. “You should like that. Easier to manage.”
I heard him behind me, boots scraping as he stopped short. “What the hell are you doing out here alone?”
“Getting some air. Since apparently I suffocate everyone.”
“You could’ve died.” He scoffed.
“Maybe that would’ve been better,” I snapped, spinning to face him. “At least then you’d stop looking at me like I’m a responsibility you didn’t ask for.”
A sudden paralysis claimed him.
My heart gave a violent lurch, then pounded a frantic rhythm in my chest.
“Don’t say things like that,” he said, voice low, strained.
“Why not?” I hurled the words.
“I protect you.”
“It’s your duty.”
“I’ve saved your life more times than I can count.”
“Then maybe stop. Maybe next time, leave me to the mimics.”
