Chapter Twenty-Seven
Theo blinks me to the street in front of Callon’s townhouse. He gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, his gaze lingering on mine as if to say, you’ll be okay. And then he’s gone, leaving me with the heavy quiet of early morning and the weight of all the unsaid words between Callon and me.
The door looms ahead, and I take a steadying breath before knocking. No answer. My hand finds the handle, and it turns easily. Strange, but I step inside, the silence pressing in around me as I search each room. By the time I’ve checked the last one, frustration simmers beneath my skin. Of course, he wouldn’t be here—why make this easy?
But then I remember the rooftop. I climb the stairs and step onto the roof, greeted by Coire’s skyline against the soft blush of dawn. The rooftops glisten, the streets hum with early risers, and the distant spires of the castle catch the first light, standing tall against the hills.
I sit, feeling the cool stone beneath me. I close my eyes and let the wind cool my face. I instinctively reach for my necklace, seeking the familiar comfort it always brings me. My fingers brush empty air, and my heart sinks as I remember that it’s likely lost in the fields at Ardu. The last thing I had of my mother—gone. The word mother feels foreign on my tongue, like I’m talking about someone else’s memory.
And then I hear footsteps behind me.
“Next time you throw it into oblivion, be ready to never see it again.” The voice is low, tinged with something I can’t quite place. I don’t turn around, my chest tightening at the sound of him. But then I hear the soft shuffle of fabric, and the weight of something cold and smooth presses against my collar.
He kneels beside me, his presence overwhelming, as if the whole world has narrowed to just the two of us. I glance down at my neck, and my breath catches.
The pendant is back—my mother’s pendant. The one I thought was gone forever.
But there’s more. Nestled next to it, gleaming softly in the early light, is a second pendant—a delicate golden eagle, its wings spread wide, crafted with intricate detail, the feathers so fine they almost seem to move with the wind. The deep violet stone of my mother’s pendant contrasts beautifully with the gold, a striking symbol of two worlds—my past and my present.
Callon’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “I wanted you to have something to remember me by. Something to show you that you’ve changed my life. That you matter.”
The words hang between us, and for a moment, I can’t speak. All the anger, all the confusion, it’s still there. But the pendant, the eagle—it’s a part of him, a part of this strange, complicated connection we share.
I close my eyes, my breath shaky. “I don’t know how to feel about this,” I whisper, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “I don’t even know how to feel about you anymore.”
He nods. His eyes steady on me. “I know. But listen to me, Eva. I want you to know—really know—that you were never a pawn to me. Not then, not now. Whatever games others may play with people’s lives… you were never part of that to me.”
His gaze holds mine, fierce, unwavering.
I swallow hard, the words echoing in my mind. Never a pawn. It’s exactly what I needed to hear, but it still doesn’t feel like enough—not yet.
“But you still lied,” I murmur, the anger flaring again despite myself.
“I know,” he says quietly, his voice thick with regret. He looks away, jaw tightening as if he’s trying to hold himself together. “Iwon’t make the same mistakes again. I’m asking you to give me a chance to prove that. Not just with words, but with everything I have.”
I stare at him, the weight of his words crashing into me. “But why didn’t you just tell me? Why keep it from me?”
He flinches. “I didn’t know for sure. I…suspected for a while,” he admits, his voice strained. “But it wasn’t until you mentioned your birthday that it clicked. Everything lined up perfectly. That’s when I knew.”
He swallows hard, the admission heavy on his tongue. “You have to understand, Eva. When I met you, when I started to care about you... everything became so much more complicated. I didn’t want to burden you with my suspicions unless I was certain. And you’re right. Maybe that doesn’t make me any better than Garet. Maybe it does just add me to the long list of people who have wronged you in your life.” He pauses, his eyes pleading for understanding. “But you have to believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you, and I never will.”
I turn my face away. “You don’t have to prove anything to me with grand gestures,” I say softly, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I do need you to mean it. Every word.”
I lift my hand, my fingers brushing the cool silver of the pendant, and then the warmth of the eagle beside it. It’s his way of saying I’m sorry, but more than that—it’s his way of showing me that he’s not just trying to fix things for himself. He’s doing this for us.
Callon’s hand finds mine, his touch gentle, almost reverent as he holds my fingers around the necklaces. He leans in slightly, his breath warm against my ear. “I’ll prove it, Eva. I’ll spend every day showing you that I’m worth trusting. I’ll never hurt you like that again. I’ll do whatever it takes.” He pauses, his voice breaking as he continues, “I’ve done terrible things in my life, things I’m not proud of. But meeting you, being with you... it’sthe only thing that’s ever felt right.”
Tears well up in my eyes as I listen to him. The sincerity in his voice, the way his eyes soften as he speaks—it’s almost too much to bear.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I really didn’t mean what I said. I was mad, hurt, but just overwhelmed.” My hands tremble slightly as I take his, needing him to understand just how much this means. “I see you, Callon, and I am not afraid of you.”
His eyes widen, the emotion within them shining through before they drift down to my lips.
“Just kiss me already, will you?” I say, trying to lighten the moment. He doesn’t need any more encouragement.
The kiss is soft, lingering, and full of meaning—like an apology for all the spoken and unspoken things between us. His lips are gentle, warm against mine, and the tenderness of it makes my heart flutter. I can feel the careful pressure of his hand cupping my cheek, his thumb brushing my skin, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish if he lets go. The rest of the world seems to fade away, leaving just the two of us suspended in this quiet, shared space.
When the kiss deepens, I’m overwhelmed by a rush of emotions—regret, longing, hope—swirling together in a way I can’t separate.
