Evaline:
The words on the page blurred before my eyes.
I blinked rapidly, tried to steady myself, but the harder I focused, the less I could see. Tears clung stubbornly to my lashes until they spilled, running down my cheeks unchecked. The report in my hands trembled violently. My grip tightened, causing my knuckles to turn white as though I could ground myself with pressure alone.
I couldn't breathe. The air was caught in my throat, heavy and jagged.
The file might as well have been blank. I didn't need to see the letters again. I had already read them... already burned them into my mind.
The truth was right there in black and white, and it hit me with such force that my body didn't know how to react. Relief, joy, disbelief - they tangled together until they hurt.
But to anyone watching me… I probably looked broken.
When I lifted my head, my vision cleared just enough to see the four men in front of me.
My mates.
