MADELINE
I froze.
The words didn't land the way accusations usually did. They didn't crash into me or set me ablaze. Instead, they settled over me like snow. Cold, silent and suffocating.
I couldn't breathe.
"What did you just say?"
My voice came out thin and reedy. Like someone had taken all the air from my lungs and left me with barely enough to form words.
Cian didn't move. He stood there, watching me with those eyes that had once looked at me with warmth. With trust. Now they held something else entirely.
Suspicion.
"Mads." His voice was quieter now, softer even, like he was trying to coax something out of me. "You heard me."
My knees went weak.
I had to lock them in place to keep from swaying. My hands trembled at my sides and I pressed them against my thighs to still them.
"You are accusing me of killing a witch?" The words scraped out of my throat. "A kin?"
He said nothing.
