Her voice was uneven, but Ben flinched all the same. There was iron behind her words, and even though they weren’t directed at him, he was watching Ari. He saw when her words hit their mark. The lump in his throat grew, and he felt as if there was a vice around his abdomen, squeezing until he had no breath left. He wanted to go to Ari, to catch him, but it was as if Dionisia’s presence hadn’t left. As if there were still eyes watching them, boring into the both of them unwanted and burning.

Ben didn’t know what to do — what should he do? Ari was the healer here, not him. Ari was the one who knew how to react when Ben had royally fucked up. And yet the pieces this night had shattered into were something that neither of them could pick up. It was water slipping between their fingers, and as they were left scrambling, the air had shifted. Years of honing his instincts and never had Ben felt more on edge than now. He wanted to believe that they had a chance to fix this, but Dionisia’s words were still echoing in his head — no, that was Ari’s voice; empty and sounding far away.

My son.

“She didn’t mean that,” But of course she had, he wouldn’t insult Dionisia further by suggesting she was hysterical and not in her right mind after what she saw tonight. “We…we can fix this, Ari, she’s just had a shock.” He was grasping at words, coming up behind Ari and reaching his hand out. But instead of his palm finding Ari as it always seemed to, he dropped it. There was something heavy in the air, and it told him that he couldn’t make Ari feel better no matter what he did. “It’ll be alright.”

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