‘Aeng,’ Blanche said. ‘He’s a friend of Shift’s, though it’s rather one-sided now. Shift values Aeng’s loyalty without desiring to understand their history.’ Because she wasn’t able to think of a safe question to follow that confidence, Taryn was thrown back on memories of her own one-sided relationship and how she’d left a man who loved her because his love couldn’t fix her—as if that were its purpose. She’d thought she was letting Alan go. That he wouldn’t have to carry her around, a cloud that rained on him all the time. But really she just couldn’t bear seeing him wait—with dignity and
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