Chapter 35

Maxi glowered at him through her teary vision. Riftan's dark eyes blazed beneath his disheveled front locks, damp from the bombardment of snow earlier.

"What exactly do you want from me?" he said, his jaw tightening.

With one hand clutching the tree trunk behind her, Riftan leaned in until their noses were almost touching. She could feel his arm trembling ever so faintly.

"Do you want me to act as though you never left me, as though I was never abandoned? Like I haven't lived the past three years in despair? Is that it? Do you truly think me capable of that?"

His broad shoulders heaved as he suppressed his flaring rage.

Losing the battle, he shouted bitterly, "How can you be so calm?! Why are you unaffected by any of this? Do you not see me barely holding myself together through this madness? Goddammit. Is that why you test my patience at every corner? Because you're truly unaware of my torment?"

A thud resounded above her head as his gauntleted fist smashed against the tree.