Liam
It had taken all of my restraint to look at Lyra, but I forced myself not to.
The moment I walked into that courtroom and felt her presence, Aries went still inside me, not calm, not peaceful, just still, like something holding its breath at the edge of a cliff.
Look at her, he said quietly.
I clenched my jaw and kept my eyes on the table.
If I looked at her, I would break, and I couldn’t afford that.
So I stared at the papers in front of me, kept my hands flat on the table, and told myself this was manageable, that I had gone through worse than some custody case, and that I would win this.
Elder Marcus' voice carried through the room, and words like custody, petition, and unlawful concealment drifted past my ears without landing properly.
This was not supposed to be us, I th
