Isola's gaze was gentle, but her voice was firm as she replied, "You can't be certain of that, Asher."
He scoffed, a bitter smile tugging at his lips as he shook his head, "I was certain once. I was certain of Aira. I was foolish enough to believe that she, of all people, wouldn't betray me. We knew each other for practically our entire lives."
He paused, gazing at the waterfall as if seeing something beyond the cascading water, "The pathetic part is," he continued, his voice now just a whisper, "even after waking up in this place, after knowing the betrayal, I refused to believe Aira did it even if I accepted the others did. I convinced myself that Aira didn't...couldn't have betrayed me. I didn't want to accept that she had turned her back on me. It wasn't until my reaping trial that I was forced to confront the reality. Forced to realize my weakness."
