"Rhy didn't hurt me," she murmured softly, and knew the words would sting. She leaned closer into Kell to remind him of what she said earlier. "He wasn't responsible for what happened."

Neither were you, she whispered beneath that, tucked away as she was deep within him, wound up in who he was, as she had let him do the same for her. They made the choice to do what they did. Kell hurt her in his silence, when he did not share what had happened. But she knew Kell to shoulder responsibility, to be the protector, the shield that tried to deflect all harm at the cost to himself.

That time, others had paid the cost.

"I would be glad to see him," she said quietly. "But - and no offense to Rhy; you know I adore him - it will not be as glad as I was to see you today."