(Kael)
I don't know how long I sit there. Holding Daniel. Rocking him. Crying.
Time doesn't exist anymore. Just grief. Just loss. Just the weight of what I've done.
My son is dead. Gone. And I killed him.
That truth pounds through my mind. Over and over. Like a drumbeat I can't escape.
I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son.
"Kael," Rowan says. His voice gentle. Careful. "We need to move him. We need to prepare the body."
"No."
"Kael."
"I said no."
I hold Daniel tighter. Can't let go. Can't release him. If I let go, it becomes real. Final. Permanent.
"Kael, please," Cassian says. "We have to do this. We have to prepare him for burial."
"Not yet."
"We can't wait. The body needs to be prepared. The ritual needs to be done."
"I don't care. I'm not letting him go."
Ro
