I hated myself for admitting it, but the moment the plane's engines roared and lifted Luna Elizabeth and Sirus into the gray morning sky, I felt it.
Lighter.
The shift was immediate—like someone had cut invisible ropes from my shoulders. My lungs expanded fully for the first time in days. The constant hum of anxiety that had been vibrating through my bones since Sirus arrived simply... quieted.
And right behind that relief came the guilt, sharp and acidic, settling in my chest like swallowed glass.
What kind of person feels relief when a traumatized four-year-old leaves?
But the truth didn't care about my self-judgment. My mind had cleared. The static noise that had been drowning out coherent thought eased just enough for me to think in complete sentences again.
Cade felt it too. I w
