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“Say what?” Elia nearly shouted this time.

The pain in her voice took Kamryn off guard. She breathed deeply, no sound in the air except her ragged breaths in and out as they stared at each other from across the living room and kitchen. “What happened to you at this school that put everyone on edge?”

Elia put her hand up. “I can’t…”

“Because I can’t protect you without knowing. And they want to fire you or something. They want to put you under the microscope and make you sweat and probably force you out ifthey can’t fire you. And I can’t in good conscience let them do that if I don’t know what the hell it’s for.” Kamryn was ready to explode. She needed to release this energy somewhere, and she knew she shouldn’t be doing it here. But Elia was the only other person in this equation that had any information.

“Kam.”

“No! Don’tKamme. Tell me what I don’t know. I’m tired of feeling like I’m the only one in this entire school that doesn’t know what happened.” Kamryn took a step forward, her fists shaking from being held so tightly. She practically vibrated with her anger. “And if you keep this a secret any longer, you’re just as bad as them.”

“I won’t! I won’t be forced to tell you what happened. It’s my story to tell!” Elia’s voice rang through the living room, piercing Kamryn’s ears. She’d never seen Elia this upset before. “I won’t let them take that one thing that I have left. Not now, not ever.”

“But how can I help you if I don’t know what the fuck is going on?” Kamryn threw her hands out to her sides, still riding the anger wave as long as she possibly could. “This is why you should have been on the ethics team. Then you could have controlled some of this.”

“Don’t!” Elia pointed her finger at Kamryn. “Don’t even think that. Even if I had agreed, I never would have been allowed to be on that team.”

“But why?” It was an angry whine now. The frustration built in her chest, and nothing was working to get rid of it. Kamryn needed to let it explode out of her, and right now Elia was the only target in sight. “I don’t understand why.”

“You don’t have to understand!” Elia shouted back.

“I want to. I want to know.” Kamryn took another step. She was finally in the middle of the living room, but she wasn’t close enough to Elia. She could see the pain in her face, the hurt and heartache that she was no doubt feeling, but she couldn’t see ifshe was at her breaking point yet. If finally, she was going to tell Kamryn exactly what she needed to hear.

“You don’t.”

“I do!” Kamryn fired back. “I do want to know. I want to be able to understand what all this underhanded nastiness is about. I can only protect you so much from it without knowing.”

“Don’t protect me.” Elia’s voice was a deadly calm. “I don’tneedorwantyour protection.”

Kamryn paused at that. Everyone needed that at some point. And Elia had given her that at the fall festival, so Kamryn would return the favor if it was warranted, but at this point, Kamryn didn’t even know if it was warranted. “If I don’t protect you, then this school will fall apart.”

“Let it.” The words were so cold. They were said with no fear. Elia stood in the kitchen, her tone resolute and her entire being determined.

“I won’t let them turn this into a witch hunt. I won’t let them take the entire school down just to get you.” Kamryn reached the edge of the kitchen counter, her fingers curling around the counter, her knuckles turning white. She still couldn’t feel half of her body from the cold, but she needed Elia to understand how much danger this was putting the school in. If they could do this with one teacher, they would do it with everyone.

And everyone made mistakes.

The point was that not every mistake deserved termination and not every mistake deserved a hanging. But Susy and Heather were making it out to be that Elia deserved all of that and more.

“It’s been a witch hunt for eighteen years.” The way Elia said that, the dead calm and the painful acceptance, hurt Kamryn deeply. This was what Elia was hiding, this pain and betrayal. It wasn’t from a past lover or a family member. It was from theschool, and everyone Elia had trusted at some point in her life to be her family away from home.

“I won’t allow witch hunts onmycampus. I won’t let them burn you.”

“They already have.” Elia raised her chin up in defiance, her gaze filled with it.

“They haven’t. I know they haven’t.” Kamryn lowered her voice. That anger was sliding away from her now, finally having had its outlet. But she was left in the pitiful pain that she’d brought up and forced Elia to feel right in front of her, and she hated herself for that. She needed to be better, to do better.

“Kam.”

Kamryn ignored her. She didn’t want the confession like that. She didn’t want to be the reason that Elia couldn’t sleep tonight or to force Elia to have to share when she wasn’t ready for it, when there wasn’t enough trust—

“Kamryn!”

“What?” Kamryn snapped her head up, locking her eyes on Elia’s.

“Yes.” Elia’s entire body went lax, as if that acceptance had morphed into something else, something that she was finally comfortable with, something that they could both tangibly touch and see now.

“Yes?” Confusion clouded Kamryn’s thoughts. What had they even been talking about? She’d gotten so lost in her self-flagellation that she hadn’t managed to keep track of what they were talking about. Kamryn walked around the counter and stepped in closer to Elia, making sure that Elia had her full attention now. She wouldn’t do that again. She wouldn’t be the bully that she abhorred, that she was fighting against. “I’m so sorry.”