Chapter 29
SOLAE
Ihad grown so tired of courtrooms. Every time I stepped into one, the smell made me nauseous.
The whole courtroom smelled like old wood and coffee gone stale.
It had that dry, recycled air that clung to the back of my throat and made it harder to breathe.
My palms were damp, my heart was jittery, and no matter how many times I told myself to breathe, the air still felt trapped in my chest.
Today was the beginning of my trial. We were just waiting on the judge to come in and call things to order. Every tick of the clock stretched like it was trying to choke me. Each second drug me closer to a moment I couldn’t run from.
And then, like I couldn’t have been imagining it, I could smell him. I turned and Priest was sitting in the row behind me.
I blinked twice, sure I was tripping. Out of all the faces I expected to see, his was the last. My stomach knotted up worse than it already was. He watched me like he was telling me without words that he had me, that I wasn’t alone in this.
I turned halfway, whispering sharply, “Why are you here?”
He smiled. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”
Heat burned my face, not the good kind either. Shame crawled all over me. “I don’t want you seeing me like this, Priest.”
“I already see you,” he murmured, low enough for just me. “I see everything. And I’m not leaving.”
I shook my head, feeling my throat getting tighter. “This is humiliating. I don’t want you to hear—”
“Stop. You think a courtroom can make me look at you different? Hell nah. You don’t scare me, and neither does this.”
His words made me dizzy. My nerves had been gnawing me up since dawn, but him being here was a different kind of storm, one that was breaking down walls.
I wanted to argue, to make him leave before my lawyer came back and the trial started, but the way his eyes pinned me said he wasn’t going anywhere.
I let out a shaky sigh as I sank back into my chair. My whole chest felt hot with a weird blend of gratefulness and embarrassment. I wanted him gone, but I also didn’t want to be here without him.
So, I stayed quiet. And he stayed put.