Chapter 193

Maxi desperately shook her head and stammered, "You are… n-nothing like her. You will… never be miserable. I will… I will be back before you know it. And then… I will never… leave again. Ever… I swear."

"I'm at my limit."

Maxi froze as she gazed at his stony face. Only his coal-black eyes showed pain.

"All this time I've wanted you… it felt like I was standing on burning coals. Do you have any idea what that means? I had to keep moving. Never sitting, never pausing. Always… always on the run, through a fire that might never end."

His raspy voice strained with exhaustion. Only then did Maxi realize just how gaunt his face had become over the last few days.

Riftan ran a hand over his haggard face. "I… want to be free of this pain now."

"Riftan… I…"

Maxi opened and closed her mouth, at a loss on how to respond. The reddish light filtering through the window cast his face in gloomy shadow.

"If you leave," said Riftan, "I'll no longer wait for you."