The bus ride was longer than expected, but I didn’t mind. The hum of the engine and the rhythmic rocking lulled me into a strange state of calm, something I hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever. I didn’t want to think about Elara, the warlock, or any of the pain I’d left behind. But every time I closed my eyes, it all flooded back.
Elara’s face, her soft voice as she confessed her fears to me, the stolen moments we shared—it all felt like a dream now. And then the memory of her kissing that man, the easy way she’d smiled at him, shattered the dream into jagged shards. How could it be so easy with him when we’d struggled so much to find our way? My heart clenched at the thought, but I forced myself to push it down. I was leaving that life behind. I had to.
The driver’s voice pulled me
