Kaelen's POV
The bathroom door felt like ice beneath my fingertips as I pushed it open and stepped inside. My own reflection greeted me from the mirror above the sink. Dark shadows pooled under my eyes, and my jaw was clenched so tight I thought my teeth might shatter.
I turned away from the sight.
Through the doorway, I could see Uncle Benedict seated in one of the chairs by the bedroom window. His presence had always been my anchor. The one constant when everything else crumbled around me.
"I came so close to saving her."
The words scraped out of my throat like broken glass. I moved toward him, each footstep feeling like it carried the weight of my failures.
"That bastard acted like it was some kind of joke. Like stealing the cure from me was entertainment."
Benedict's weathered face remained impassive, but his keen eyes tracked my every movement. He had always been able to read me too well.
I stopped directly in front of him, my hands balling into fists at my sides.
