Lyra's POV
I blinked hard against the shadowy interior of the car, my vision still blurry from tears. My fingers instinctively moved to my throat, pressing against skin that felt tender even though nothing was actually there. The tears wouldn't stop falling, no matter how many times I wiped them away.
"What happened?" Kaelen's voice cut through the silence.
I dragged my sleeve across my face, but fresh tears immediately replaced the ones I'd cleared. My chest felt like someone had wrapped steel bands around my ribs and pulled them tight.
"I had a nightmare." The words scraped out of my throat like I'd been screaming for hours.
Kaelen went completely still beside me. He turned that laser-focused attention on me, the kind that made everything else in the world fade away. I couldn't tell if he was waiting for me to continue or hoping I'd drift back to sleep. Either way, he didn't push.
