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CHAPTER 253
~Valerie's POV~
My thumb hovered over the message preview, my heart suddenly lodged in my throat. I swallowed hard and opened it.
I froze.
The silence of the lab pressed in like a blanket.
"Solstice," I whispered her name aloud in my mind, then again under my breath like it could summon her.
I clutched my phone tighter, my fingers curling around the device like it might disappear if I let go.
Gods, I hadn't expected this now, today of all days. It felt like reliving it all again, all the pain of her leaving with Uncle Zade, seeing the betrayer with Dristan.
I didn't want that. I didn't want to think about anything negative, yet that was all my brain was doing while my heart played a different game.
I sat down slowly on one of the lab stools, the phone still glowing in my hand. My heartbeat was erratic; too many emotions were flooding in all at once.
It wasn't just the text. It was the memories that reopened.