Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 2636

Sylvia’s eyes were half-closed. She watched their shadow on the ground lengthen and shorten, watched the distant mountains crouch like beasts on the horizon, watched the crescent moon disappear behind dark clouds…

In that moment, everything she saw became sharp and clear.

She reached into her pocket and touched the talisman, making a silent wish.

If this is a dream, please let me wake up later.

And please, let this road be longer.

In a daze, she was transported back to the day they removed the boneworm from her. The next day, her leg had been too swollen to walk, and he had carried her out of that desert just like this.

It felt like a lifetime ago. She had lost so much blood and was so dizzy from the sun that all she’d wanted to do was sleep.

Gabriel hadn't let her. He had even told her a story.

Later, when she tried to recall the memory, it was always hazy, and she wondered if it had been a dream. Gab, who never wasted a single word on her, telling her a story?

But that was when it started, wasn’t it? The moment her feelings for him began to shift from reverence and fear to something else entirely.

Now, lying on his back once again, those suppressed emotions were clawing their way back to the surface, and a sense of panic seized her.

This was just repeating the same mistakes.

It had to end where it began.

She had chosen a different life. She had to stay on that path.

Sylvia closed her eyes, trying to ignore the grief welling up inside her.

She didn’t want love. She wanted clarity.

Even the wise man at the shrine had warned her not to covet the beautiful illusion of a moon on the water.

…

Gabriel nodded slightly and walked with Sylvia back to their villa.

As they crossed the lawn, Sylvia looked up at the sky. The moon was no longer bright but surrounded by a hazy halo.

“You mentioned you were going home for a couple of days,” Sylvia said. “When are you leaving?”

“Why?” Gabriel’s tone was clipped.

“It might rain tomorrow,” she said, then added, “I heard that rain in the mountains can cause landslides.”

In the dim light, Gabriel’s jaw was tight. He said nothing.

Sylvia kept her head slightly bowed, as if concentrating on the path beneath her feet, and didn’t speak again either.

Back at the villa, a housekeeper greeted them. “Dinner must be getting cold. I’ll go reheat it. It will just be a few minutes.”