Chapter 73 The Rite Of Purity (I)

• Zoey’s POV
• Our backs are still touching when I open my eyes to the new morning, the faint warmth of Kieran’s body radiating through the thin space between us. The room is quiet, peaceful even, but my mind is anything but. I’m grateful I didn’t slip back into another dream — the last one still scrapes at my nerves, its meaning clawing at me from the shadows. I know I have to tell him eventually. Anders was right. The closer we get to the end of this week, the harder it becomes to keep secrets from him. Everything in me aches to just tell him… yet I don’t know how to break the truth open without breaking something between us.
• My early morning walk should’ve cleared my mind, but it only amplified the knot sitting heavy in my chest. And somehow, my steps lead me back to the only place that feels stable right now — the lonely cabin tucked at the edge of the lawn.