Page 55 of The Divine Lies We Weave

“Nothing.”

“Yes, there is,” she declared. “You’ve barely touched me.”

Rajesh glanced at his fingers. “I… I can’t.”

Leela blinked several times. “What are you saying? Are you sick? Is something wrong?”

There were diseases circling through the village every now and again. Had he caught the strange illness his father had? Was his father… dead…? He looked fine, the moonslight soft against his brown skin, and the curls in his hair newly washed.

No. There was something else troubling him.

Her chest swelled with a dangerous emotion, one tugging on her heartstrings and sending her into her deepest and darkest thoughts. Had Rajesh fallen out of love with her? Had he realized she wasn’t his soul mate? Was the last ceremony too hard for him? Their marriage was within the year. Had he finally realized he was better without her…?

“What is wrong?” she pressed.

He evaded her eyes and kept staring out the window.

The longer time stretched, the more her pulse quickened. She had been with Rajesh from childhood through their bonding ceremony, when children aged sixteen moons were tasked with finding a soul keeper. Rajesh had her soul. He had her heart. He had her everything. She could never be with someone other than the man beside her. They had spent the last few years going through the ceremonies to work on how strong their love was.

They were the most compatible couple to have ever graced the ceremonies.

“Rajesh?” Leela pressed.

Rajesh finally met her gaze, dragging them from the ground. There was a haunted sadness in his eyes, like he was trying so hard to push whatever he wanted to say back. It was the look that would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

“I can’t…” His jaw tightening. “I can’t love you.”

Leela could only stare at him, refusing to believe what she had just heard. A heaviness settled over her, seeping into her skin and suffocating her lungs. The words continued to reverberate inside her mind, bouncing off the cavernous walls.

I can’t love you.

I can’t love you.

I can’t love you.

I don’t love you.

I don’t love you.

Leela felt everything and nothing at all—a numbness, the walls darkening around her vision.

Rajesh reached for her, but she scrambled back.

She pushed herself to her feet. The walls were closing in. She needed to escape. Needed to run… or… ponder. She didn’t know. Whatever it was, she couldn’t decide whether to leave or stand and demand answers. But what more did she need to hear? She couldn’t keep letting him break her.

“I don’t… I… wh—what?” Leela stammered. Tears swam in her eyes as she met his gaze.

That look burned inside her mind. There was nothing inside. A hollowness bleeding into Leela. She couldn’t understand when he changed his mind. When he decided she wasn’t worth his time.

When they were sixteen and walking over the hot coals to prove to the Flames their love was worthy?

When they were seventeen, and they had to embrace one another for a full day?

When they were eighteen, and they first slept together?

Rajesh took a deep breath and slowly got to his feet.

Leela inched away. She couldn’t look at him anymore.