BLAZE POV
She still wasn't saying anything, and the silence stretched—tense, heavy, broken only by the sound of her soft, staggered breaths. My flames were still simmering under the surface, not from rage this time, but from restraint. I wanted to reach for her so badly it hurt, but I knew I couldn't force that. Not now. Not after what she'd seen.
Not after her eyes met mine in that dream and she looked at me like I was the devil himself.
"Clare…" I said her name like a prayer and a plea.
She flinched again.
I fucking hated that.
I drew a deep breath and let it out slow, softening my tone like I was coaxing a frightened animal—because that's what she looked like now. A cornered thing, covered in invisible bruises and haunted by ghosts with fangs.
"I'm not here to hurt you," I said again, steady and low. "I'm here to keep you safe. I should've never left. That's on me. But I'm here now. And I swear on every drop of blood in my body, nothing like that will happen again."
