CHAPTER 130: FRACTURES AND HEALING

Josie

I blinked, sure I hadn’t heard him right. My heart gave a painful lurch, as though my body wanted to reject the words before my mind had even processed them.

"What... what did you just say?" My voice shook, fragile as glass, so thin I thought it might shatter into nothing.

Liam’s eyes didn’t waver, not even a flicker of hesitation. "The witch wants your powers, Josie. She’s been searching for someone like you for a long time."

For a long time. The words echoed through me, bouncing in my head like a cruel taunt. My stomach rolled violently, and suddenly I was aware of every drop of blood rushing to my face. My knees buckled, too weak to keep me upright, and I staggered backward, collapsing into the chair behind me. The edge of the wood bit into my thighs, grounding me only slightly as the room tilted.

My pulse hammered so loud I could barely hear anything else. I thought for a second I might vomit.

"You expect us to believe that?" Kiel’s voice cut through, sharp and unforgiving. He stepped forward, his whole body coiled tight, jaw clenched hard enough to break.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

Liam shrugged, his casualness like acid on an open wound. "Believe me or not, I don’t care." His tone was too even, almost indifferent. "But contrary to what you think, the worst thing I ever did was bully Josie. I tried to break her down, reduce her worth with my words. That’s on me, and I regret it more than anything."

My name pierced through the fog in my head. I forced myself to look up. All three of them—Varen, Kiel, Thorne—were staring at me, their shock laid bare.

"Josie..." Varen’s voice was rough, strained, almost like gravel scraping across stone. "Is he telling the truth?"

The tears burned before they even fell. My throat constricted, every muscle in my neck tight, my lips trembling so hard I could barely press them together. Slowly—agonizingly slowly—I nodded.

Kiel swore, the curse exploding from him like thunder, bouncing off the walls. Varen’s face darkened with something harsher than anger, sharper than fury. Not directed at Liam, but at me.

"Why the hell didn’t you say anything?" His words tore into me, jagged and raw.

I opened my mouth, desperate to answer, but nothing came out. My tongue felt heavy, like stone. I just stared at them, eyes wide and wet, pleading silently for them to see that I couldn’t speak, that I hadn’t known how.

"Damn it, Josie," Varen growled, dragging his hands through his hair with a violence that made me flinch. "I’ve been furious with you all this time, and you’ve been carrying this in silence?" His voice cracked on the last word, and that hurt more than anything.

My chest heaved. It felt like something was closing in on me, squeezing the air from my lungs. I wanted to scream that it hadn’t been that easy, that fear had locked me up and shame had tied my tongue, but before I could even try, Liam’s voice slid in, slicing through the fragile space.

"I made it that way," he said smoothly, almost smug, like he was proud of the havoc he’d created. "I played with your minds. I wanted misunderstandings, cracks, doubt. I wanted her to suffer. But I was wrong." He tilted his head, eyes glittering with something I couldn’t read. "Josie, you’ve got a gift. Something far greater than you realize. I want to teach you how to use it—so you can win."

The way he said my name, the way his gaze lingered on me, made my skin crawl. My fingers curled into fists, nails biting into my palms just to remind myself I was still here, still in control of my body.

"Enough," Thorne snapped. His voice was sharp, colder than steel, the kind of cold that could slice you open. His command was absolute. "Escort him to his quarters. Stay with him. He doesn’t take a step without eyes on him."

The guard obeyed instantly, grabbing Liam by the arm and dragging him toward the door. Liam didn’t resist, didn’t even look back. That almost made it worse.

The heavy door shut behind them with a final thud.

Silence.

It wrapped around me, suffocating. I didn’t realize until then that I was trembling—my hands shaking violently in my lap, my legs quivering as though they couldn’t hold me if I tried to stand. My whole body felt like a thread unraveling too quickly, spilling into pieces I couldn’t catch.

It was like being stripped bare, defenses torn away, strength gone. Hollow. Exposed. Anchorless.

The worst feeling I’d ever known.

"Josie..." Varen’s voice broke the silence, softer this time though frustration still edged his tone. His brows furrowed, pain written across his face. "Did all our issues make you... bury this? Did you suppress it because of us?"

Kiel swore under his breath, pacing a step before he whipped back around. "What did you expect, Varen? I fought with her. I accused her of choosing Liam over us. I made her feel like she was betraying me." His fist tightened, then fell uselessly to his side. His shoulders sagged. "And now I’d give anything to take it back. I wish I wasn’t such a complete idiot."

The tears finally slipped down my cheeks, hot and relentless. My voice cracked when I forced it out. "Don’t... don’t blame yourselves. Please."

Kiel’s head jerked up, his eyes flashing—not with anger, but with regret so raw it almost burned.

The sobs clawed their way out of me, ugly and loud. My whole body shook as I gasped through them. "I hit you, Kiel. I treated you like you were nothing. And Varen..." My gaze swung to him, blurred through the water in my eyes. "I dismissed you, belittled you. And Thorne—" My teeth sank into my lip so hard I tasted copper. "I was terrified of you, and maybe... maybe I let my pride, my ego, get in the way. I ruined everything. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything."

Varen was the first to move. He crossed the space in a heartbeat, lowering himself to his knees before me. His big, rough hand cupped my cheek, thumb brushing gently at the tears I couldn’t stop.

"Stop," he whispered, his voice a gravelly murmur. "Stop blaming yourself. We were supposed to protect you, Josie. All we did was push you away." His eyes shone with something heavy, something close to breaking.

Kiel dropped down beside him, also on his knees, his expression fierce but broken, eyes wet though he tried to hide it. "We wanted to give you a safe space. A place where you could breathe, where you could trust us." His voice cracked, raw. "Instead, we became part of the problem. That’s on us. Not you."

Their words dug into me, deeper than any blade could. My sobs only grew, tearing out of me like years of pain I hadn’t realized I’d been holding back.

Behind them, Thorne remained standing. His posture was rigid, unyielding, like stone carved into a man. His voice broke through the fragile moment like a command of thunder. "Get dressed."

I flinched, lifting my tear-stained face to him. "Why? What are you—"

His expression gave nothing away. His eyes were dark, unreadable, and yet I could feel something stirring beneath them, some decision already made that he wasn’t going to share.

"Thorne—" I began, desperate for an answer.

But Kiel drew my attention back with a quiet urgency. He leaned close, clutching my hand as though he was afraid I’d slip away. His voice was hoarse, frayed at the edges.

"Josie... can we start over? Please."

The tears blurred my vision all over again. My hand trembled in his, weak but clinging. "Kiel... I’m sorry I hit you. I shouldn’t have—"

He cut me off, gripping my hand tighter, his gaze fierce. "No. I deserved it. Every bit of it. But I don’t want to live in the shadow of mistakes anymore. I don’t want us to rot in regret. I want us to rebuild. From the ground up, if we have to."

My chest constricted painfully, but this time, it wasn’t despair crushing me. It was hope—fragile, trembling, but real. A thread stretching between us, delicate but unbroken.

Maybe—just maybe—we could start again.