Third Person POV
Helen stood frozen.
The garden held its breath around her. The fountain kept running. The flowers stayed where they were. The sky above the enclosed stone walls did not change.
Everything was exactly as it had been a moment ago, except that the clearing at the far end was now empty, and the sound of Kai's breathing was gone, and the warmth that had been pressed against her was gone with it.
He was backing away from her.
One step. Then another. His red eyes were fixed on her face and something behind them was fighting something else, something she could see happening in real time… the red bleeding at the edges, the green trying to come back through, his jaw tight and his hands clenched at his sides like he was holding himself together by force.
"Kai," she said. Quiet. Just his name.
He shook his head.
But not at her. He shook it at himself, once, sharp and short, like he was trying to clear something out of it.
Then he turned and ran.
