Page 32 of Unseen Eye
Garet’s face falls, his eyes filled with regret. “After the attack, I thought bringing you here would be the best way to keep you safe. And the engagement... I thought it would keep you close, under my protection.”
Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. “You should have talked to me, trusted me enough to let me decide what’s best for me. I’m not some fragile thing you need to shield, Garet. I’m capable of making my own damn choices.”
“You’re right,” he admits, his voice cracking. “I’ve been a fool. But you’re my best friend, Eva. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Best friend?” I echo bitterly. “Friends don’t lie, Garet. They don’t manipulate each other. You didn’t trust me, and now you expect me to believe you still care?”
He looks down, shame etched into every line of his face. “I know I’ve failed you. But I’m trying to make it right.”
I let out a hollow laugh, the sound bitter and sharp. “Trying to make it right? You’ve already done the damage. You’ve changed, Garet. The person standing in front of me isn’t the friend I grew up with. You’ve become cold, controlling. And this whole engagement? It’s the final nail in the coffin.”
He steps closer, his expression desperate. “Eva, please. I still care about you. I care more than you realize.”
“Then show it,” I snap, tears finally breaking free. “Stop controlling me. Stop deciding what’s best for me without even asking. You took away my voice, Garet. You made me feel powerless, like I’m nothing more than a pawn in your game.”
He stands there, helpless, as I wipe angrily at my tears. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken words.
“I need time,” I say, my voice trembling but resolute. “Time to figure out if there’s anything left of us to salvage.”
Garet nods slowly, the weight of my words settling on his shoulders. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here... hoping I can somehow earn back your trust.”
As I turn away, a question that’s been gnawing at me finally forces its way out. My voice is barely above a whisper. “Do Finn and Nessa know?”
Garet’s brow furrows. “Know what?”
I swallow hard, the weight of my own words making it difficult to speak. “The truth about you. Were they lying to me too?”
His face softens, and he shakes his head. “No, Eva. No one knew. I made sure of that.”
My chest tightens, but before I can process his answer, another question tumbles out, raw and urgent. “Are they okay? Did they survive? Can I go back to Pinebrook to see them?”
Garet hesitates, the silence between us growing heavier. “I... I don’t know,” he admits, regret lacing his voice. “I haven’t hadcontact with anyone from Pinebrook since we left.”
As I stand there, my heart twists with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The thought of Finn and Nessa, left behind in Pinebrook, stings more than any betrayal Garet could have dealt me. They don’t know what happened. They don’t know why I vanished, or if I’m even alive. My stomach churns at the thought of them wondering, worrying, or worse—thinking I abandoned them.
“Do you even know what this feels like?” I whisper, my voice trembling. “To be safe while the people you love are left in the dark? I should be there with them, not hiding here.”
Garet’s expression softens, but it only fuels my anger. “Eva, you being there wouldn’t help them. It would only put them in more danger.”
“Maybe,” I shoot back, “but at least I wouldn’t feel so useless. At least I wouldn’t feel like I abandoned them.”
He looks down, guilt flickering across his face. “I wish I could tell you they’re okay, that everything’s fine. But I can’t.”
I shake my head, trying to swallow the lump forming in my throat. “This guilt is eating me alive.”
He doesn’t respond, only watches me with a quiet intensity that makes my skin crawl.
“I’ll talk to my father after the eclipse,” he says, his tone almost pleading. “He might have a way to keep them safe.”
I stare at him, feeling the ground shift beneath me. “And what am I supposed to do until then? Just sit here and hope? Hope that they’re okay, that they don’t need me right now?”
“I know it’s hard,” Garet says softly, stepping closer. His eyes search mine for a trace of the trust we once shared. “But please, Eva. Trust that this is the best way to protect them.”
I scoff, the bitter taste of betrayal burning in my throat. “Trust you?” I spit out. “After everything? Sure, Garet. I’ll just sit tight, play the obedient prisoner. Don’t worry about me.”
His face twists with guilt, but I’ve had enough. “Please leave,” I say coldly, each word slicing through the air like a blade.
Then, almost inaudibly, he speaks. “Before all of this... before I knew you were Aetherian…when I thought you were just human, I asked my father if I could court you. Bring you back here.”
