Kai is on me in an instant. His arm is sure around my waist, breath warm against my ear. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, Pae.” I feel willingly weak with him to hold me, as if strength is a facade only needed when he is not near. And it’s that realization that has every moment of the Trial flooding back. My eyes fall to the trembling, bloody hands I hold out to him. “I’ve… I’ve stained my soul again.” “Shh.” He grabs my wrists, pressing those bloody palms against his black tunic. “There. Now it’s my soul that is stained.”
