As I walked out of the hotel room and moved through the corridor back toward the stairwell, I maintained complete silence while Rachel walked quietly beside me, clearly sensing that I needed a moment to process what had just happened.
"Ryan—" She began gently.
"I'm sorry," I said, cutting her off before she could continue.
"Hm?" Rachel looked at me with confusion, clearly not understanding what I was apologizing for.
"I feel like I completely lost my composure back there and just lashed out stupidly," I explained. "That wasn't how I should have handled the situation. I let my emotions control me instead of thinking."
It felt unlike me to lose my calm like that, to let anger and rage override rational decision-making. But I simply hadn't been able to hold back the anger that had risen up when confronted with an actual Starakian—a real member of the species responsible for destroying everything I'd known.
