Minutes passed. Maybe more. Neither of them counted.
Then, in a voice so soft it barely carried over the water, she whispered. "Theo… can you freeze anything?"
His head turned to her immediately, deeply concerned.
"Freeze what?" he asked quietly. "What do you mean?"
Athena didn't look at him. She couldn't.
If she met his eyes, she knew she would break in a way she wouldn't recover from.
Instead, she let out a breath that trembled, a small broken exhale barely held together. A smile touched her lips…A painful one. The kind of smile someone wears when their heart is bleeding too loudly.
Tears gathered in her lashes, catching the moonlight.
"Can you freeze this world?" she asked, her voice raw. "My life… my heart… all of it?"
Her throat tightened, but she kept staring straight ahead like the lake was the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely.
