[Draven].
Meredith didn't answer right away.
She lowered her head, her silver hair slipping forward to hide her face. I didn't rush her. I let the silence breathe, even when I heard the faint hitch in her breath—one soft sniff she probably hoped I wouldn't notice.
I noticed everything.
Rhovan stirred within me, alert but quiet. "Let her speak," he urged. "She is already bleeding."
I stayed where I was, hands resting on my knees, forcing myself not to reach for her. I had a weakness for her tears. I always had. And if I let myself move now, I knew I would soften too quickly.
After a moment, she lifted her head. Her eyes were glassy, but steady.
"I'm sorry," she said again, but this time she didn't stop there. "I'm sorry for not telling you the things that happened to me recently… and instead letting you find out on your own."
I kept my expression neutral, even as something tight shifted in my chest.
