One Year Post-WPWT

***(Kai's POV)***

"So that's it?" I snort.

Skylor's hard glare never wavers. "That's what, Kai Smith? The end of me putting up with your crap?"

Pain splinters my soul, and a rush of red-hot anger bleeds out into my reaction. "We're getting married, Skylor. I think that means we're agreeing to take crap from each other because the benefits far outweigh the costs." My hands fist, fingernails digging into palms callused from years of smithy work.

She quirks an eyebrow, her usual anger at our arguments turned to an ice-cold determination. "And what further benefit could there be to this engagement? All I have is obligation to you, Kai Smith."

A needle pops my lung, and all the air is suddenly released from my body.

Ouch.

An errant strand of red hair escapes past her ear, and she shoves it back where it belongs with passion. Her eyes for a moment give way to vulnerability, but she quickly pastes back on her determined expression.

"I'm waiting, Kai," she hisses.

I clench my eyes shut, desperate to overcome the biting wound inside with rage. But I can't let my temper take over – there's no way I'll be able to reason with Skylor then.

Instead, I let out a shallow breath and try to gain my bearings. "Skye, you were never obligated to do – "

She snorts. "Oh, please. Superficiality and lies are all our relationship exists on these days." Her eyes narrow. "And unlike all those other bimbos who hang around, I'm here for more than appearances. I loved you."

I open and close my mouth, only able to form a single, harrowing past-tense verb.

"Loved?"

Her front teeth grab her lower lip, and she studies me for a moment of weakness.

Then she pivots and tosses over her shoulder, "Yes. Loved."

Whatever's left of my heart twists into a wet dishcloth that only needs wrung to lose its last droplets of excess feeling. I search for something, anything, to make her stay, to prove her wrong, to –

Bimbos. She mentioned them.

"Skye," I say placatingly, desperately, "you know Gail and Mia mean nothing. Gail's just a reporter who gets the inside scoop on my wrestling gig, and Mia's – "

"Your secretary," she spits. "Funny how her very job title has secret in it. She looks at you like you're a piece of meat." She flips her messy hair over her shoulder. "But then, she really has no reason not to flirt with you the way she does. You're single now, after all." One flowered sandal steps toward the door in marked retreat.

Out of necessity and some measure of stupidity, I reach out and grab her shoulder. "Skylor, you know I – "

She swivels on me, eyes lit with fire. "Let me go, you oaf. You're so good at letting everyone else go, it shouldn't be too much of a trouble for you to do the same with me."

My jaw locks, and I have to grind words out of my mouth. "Skylor...if you're referring to the team, we dissolved eight months ago. There was nothing I could do to stop that." Almost nothing.

"I meant your sister," she snaps. "For the record, she's worth a heck of a lot more to me than you are." She jerks away from my grip, and my fingers feel instantly frozen in her absence.

Maybe it's because of the ice that's settled over my heart at my sister's mention.

My voice rumbles from my throat in a low growl. "Don't mention Nya." The girl whom I would've given my life for, but who never really loved me at all.

"I'll talk about her whenever I like." Skylor's eyes shoot daggers at mine. "I'm under no compulsion to keep you happy anymore."

I snort. "Fine. Walk out on me – just like everyone else in my life has."

She steels her expression. "I hope you get your issues worked out, Kai. I really do. But I'm not putting up with your closed-mindedness and distorted perceptions anymore, and I'm certainly not going to pretend you're the guy I want to marry." She crosses her arms firmly and finishes pacing to the door.

The weight of the moment strikes me. "Skye – "

Her elemental power stirs in the atmosphere between us.

"Goodbye, Kai," she monotones.

And she doesn't even spare me one last glance before she vanishes in a cloud of smoke.