Under the Veil I Rule novel Chapter 229

Finnian loosened his grip on her a little. "If it were Keith's jacket, would you refuse?"

What kind of weird question was that? Amara was utterly bewildered by Finnian's unpredictable behavior today. She didn't even know how to respond.

Seeing her silence, Finnian gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Answer me."

Amara thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "I wouldn't decline because Keith is my friend."

Saying this, a pang of sadness washed over her. Were she and Keith still friends?

The dim light in the cave obscured her expression from Finnian. He pulled her closer again and said, "Then just think of me as Keith."

"What? That's impossible."

How could she possibly do that? Finnian and Keith were worlds apart—no way she could confuse the two.

Biting her lip, Amara uttered, "Mr. Everly, you really don't have to..."

"Mr. Everly! Ms. Sullivan! Are you down there?"

Suddenly, a shout came from above, followed by a beam of light casting down from above their head.

Startled, Amara reflexively pushed Finnian away and stepped back. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked up to see Will peering down, holding a flashlight, its beam bouncing around.

Not just Will—there were other faces, and was that Keith among them?

"Ama, are you okay? How did you end up down there?"

Keith's anxious voice sounded in her ear. Hearing him, Amara suddenly felt like crying.

"It's all because of you! You asked me yesterday to... If I hadn't been upset with you, I wouldn't have gone out late, and if I hadn't gone out, I wouldn't have fallen into that hole."

Amara was usually quite reasonable, but with friends, she allowed herself to be a bit more dramatic. After the scare she'd just had, her emotions were all over the place. And she'd been worrying about her friendship with Keith all day, wondering if he'd end things between them.

After Amara spent the day in such a swirl of emotions, suddenly knowing Keith still cared so much about her brought everything to the surface, and she couldn't help but speak her mind.

And as she did, she started to weep.