Everything was too much.
The poisoning.
Liora.
The water people.
The empty feeling in my chest.
Nicholas.
God, Nicholas…
“I keep making everything worse,” I choked out between sobs.
I buried my face in my hands, crying harder.
And then—
A hand touched my shoulder.
I froze.
My breath caught in my throat as I slowly lifted my head, my heart racing.
“Hey… don’t cry.”
The voice was soft. Familiar.
I turned my head, my tear-blurred vision landing on him.
The green-eyed man.
He stood there like he had always been there, like he hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere.
“How do you—” My voice broke, and I wiped at my eyes quickly, though it didn’t do much to stop the tears.
“You both are stressed,” he said gently, his gaze steady, calm in a way that felt almost unnatural. “He just w
