My gaze is fixed distantly on the sliver of freedom ahead when I see him. Time slows. My heart splinters. Kai stands in the doorway, his chest heaving as though he has sprinted past his best judgment and found himself here. A broken sort of acknowledgment of my fate fills his face. I see the exact moment he realizes he is too late. His gray eyes flick between the two of us in disbelief. Even the Enforcer did not believe I would go through with it, and his hurt cuts me deep. I failed him. I failed us. Still, he musters a small smile. It is the look of letting someone go.
