Still watching me.
Still there.
A knock sounds at the door.
All three of them look up at once.
I turn my head.
The door opens and Evelyn hovers in the doorway.
thirty-four
Liana
She stops just inside the room like she doesn’t want to come any further without knowing if she’s allowed, her gaze landing on me and then holding there, her expression shifting in a way I don’t think she means to show, something tight and emotional and barely contained.
“Hey,” she says softly, but her voice isn’t steady, and she clears her throat like she’s trying to force it to be. “Are you okay?”
The question shouldn’t be simple, and it isn’t, but I still nod, even as I feel the weight of everything sitting behind the answer.
“I’m okay,” I say, and it’s not entirely a lie, but it’s not the truth either.
Her eyes search my face like she knows that, like she’s trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t, and for a moment neither of us moves, neither of us speaks, until I become aware of the others still around me, still watching, still holding the space in a way that suddenly feels too full.
I need something else.
Something different.
“Can I have a minute with Evelyn?” I ask, my voice softer now, but steady enough that it doesn’t sound like a suggestion.
There’s a pause.
Not a long one.
But long enough.
“No.”
Elijah doesn’t hesitate.
The word is immediate, quiet, but final in a way that makes something in my chest tighten.
I turn my head slightly toward him, ignoring the pull in my side as I do it.
“I just need a minute,” I say, holding his gaze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” he replies, just as quietly, but there’s something underneath it now, something that doesn’t bend easily.
“I’m not alone,” I say, glancing briefly at Evelyn before looking back at him. “I’m with her.”
“That didn’t stop anything last time.”
The words land heavier than he intends them to, and I see the moment it registers, the slight shift in Evelyn’s expression, the way something flickers across her face before she can hide it.
“That wasn’t Evelyn’s fault,” I say immediately, sharper than I meant to, but I don’t pull it back. “You know that.”
He doesn’t answer.
