Page 130 of Our Radiant Embers

“What happened?” White panic squeezed any inflection out of my voice. “Where is he?”

“He just…He fainted, Adam. On the Southwark site. It was just for a minute, he’s okay, said he hasn’t been sleeping right.”

He’s okay.

I sucked in a breath, my ribs fluttering. “He’s okay—really?”

“Yeah. I drove him home.”

“He needs to see a doctor.”

Faint humour seeped into Gale’s tone. “You tell him that. He sure wasn’t keen when I suggested it.”

I pushed away from the cabinet and took the three steps to the terrace door, turned, and walked the same distance back. My skin had shrunk to half its size. Liam was—he’d just—how dare he just collapse when I wasn’t there to…When I wasn’t there.

My chest hurt. My whole body hurt after a week of constantly feeling like my head was underwater, lying awake when I should be sleeping. I’d thought a couple of days at the beach house would help. The opposite was true.

I couldn’t do this.

Walking away from him had been the hardest thing I’d ever done. I’d thought I was strong enough to sacrifice who I was with him to protect Gale, to protect my entire family. I’d also thought it would set Liam free—that even if he didn’t see it that way right now, it would eventually allow him to find something real, something he deserved.

And now he’d just…He’d collapsed. And I hadn’t been there to catch him.

He hadn’t been sleeping right? Yeah, me neither.

I couldn’t fucking do this.

Gravel lined my throat, but I kept pushing words out regardless. “You drove him home, you said?”

“I did, yeah.” Gale paused. “I really think he is okay, Adam. In terms of…Physically, I mean. But he’s not okay without you, and you’re not okay without him.”

“I’m not,” I admitted.

Gale was quiet for a beat. “Then why did you end it?”

“You know why.”

Another moment of silence stretched between us while I began moving towards the bedroom. My bag was mostly still packed. I just needed to throw my toiletries in, zip it all up, and then hit the road.

“I don’t want that for you.” Gale’s voice was quietly firm. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re unhappy. It’s not right, and I love you too much to allow it.”

I stopped halfway up the stairs. “Gale…”

“No.” His tone gained a rare edge of combativeness. “For once, I want my say. Yeah, I’m just a lowly little Spark, but I can’t have everyone scrambling to protect me for the rest of my life. We’ll figure something out, all right? We’ll make peace with the Ashtons, and if we drop a few ranks in power and importance, I don’t give a shit. Neither should you. We are not Dad or Eleanor, and how they see things isn’t the only way there is.”

My throat closed up, and it took a moment before I managed to find my voice. “I’m about to pack my bag, Gale—drive home and see if Liam still wants me.”

Gale exhaled in a rush. When he spoke again, it was laced with warmth. “Of course he does. He’s mad about you, in case you haven’t noticed.”

This time, the flutter between my ribs felt a lot like hope. “Even if I might have broken his heart?”

“You kind of broke your own, too,” Gale said softly. “Time to pick up the pieces and glue them back together, don’t you think?”

I aimed for a smile and didn’t quite get there, the thick swirl of nerves and anticipation too heavy a weight. “When you wrote that message—were you trying to kick me into action?”

He hesitated for a second. “Liam is miserable. So are you.”

“Not going to fight you on that,” I said, and when he replied, a smile showed in his voice.

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