Natalie let out a shaky breath, her anger cooling into a cold, hard resolve. "I don't want that either. I just… I want you to realize that you were mistaken about them, too."
Arik's hand remained suspended in the air, his fingers twitching slightly. "Wrong about whom?"
"Noah. My fathers, Frederik, your fathers too." Natalie shook her head, a stray tear finally escaping and tracing a path through the dust on her cheek. "You think they see a miracle or a monster. You think they're following a legend back from the dead. But I've watched them, Arik. I've watched the way they look at you when the meetings are over and the displays are dark."
She took a small step forward, closing the distance his hesitation had created.
