All of a sudden, the air crackled—static, electric, sharp.
Helena stayed kneeling, her fingers clawing into the dirt as if she could bury the guilt with her nails.
But it was too late.
"I loved her," she muttered.
I froze.
"What?"
"I loved Selene. You weren't the only one. I wanted to save her. I wanted to be saved by her. But she never looked at me like that. She looked at you."
A chill ran down my spine.
"This is what it's about? Jealousy?"
"No. Not jealousy." She looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot. "Obsession."
There it was.
The truth I didn't want.
"You were always the one who got to be the hero. The one she believed in. But me? I was just... a Lovecraft."
I couldn't care less. Her last name meant absolutely nothing for me.
"I wanted her to stop seeing me as broken. So I made a choice—one I couldn't undo."
"Don't try to justify it," I said coldly.
"I'm not. I'm confessing."
