Ren's chest hitched, a ragged, strangled gasp tearing from his lips. The vibrant emerald green of his irises swam with a thick, heavy layer of unshed tears.
His skin was impossibly pale, completely drained of the blistering, fevered flush of his heat. He looked at her as if she were a ghost, his jaw trembling violently. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a broken, devastated sound escaped.
And then, he moved.
Ren didn't just pull away; he shoved her. His large hands planted firmly on her shoulders, pushing her to the side with enough force to topple her onto the furs, but carefully enough not to bruise her skin.
"Ren!" Roxy cried out, scrambling to sit up.
Before the single syllable even finished echoing off the stone walls, the air in the master bedroom violently cracked with the displacement of raw, localized magic.
