“At any point,” he says, quieter now, “were you goin’ to tell me you were breakin’ the one rule I gave you?”
“Yes,” Bran says.
“When?” Kael demands.
“Before,” Bran says. “Before tonight. I was workin’ on the words.”
Kael snorts.
“Words,” he says. “Jesus Christ, you’re all the same.”
He lets go of Bran’s shirt with a sharp shove.
Bran doesn’t stumble.
Kael runs both hands through his hair, mutters something vicious in Irish, and then exhales hard.
“Fine,” he says. “You and me are gonna talk outside before I decide where I’m buryin’ you.” He jerks his head toward the hall. “Brady, you too. I want a full account of how this clusterfuck went down.”
Jack sighs. “Language,” he says absently, then nods. “Yeah. All right.”
They head for the door. Bran looks back at me, eyes catching mine.
“I’ll be right outside,” he says softly. “You hear anything you don’t like, you push that button and I’m comin’ back in.”
“I hear anything I don’t like, I’m unplugging myself and walking out,” I say.
He smiles, quick and crooked.
“That too,” he says.
Then he’s gone. The door clicks shut behind them.
The room feels suddenly too quiet, all beep and hum and the soft whoosh of the vent. I stare at the ceiling, my own words echoing in my skull.
Falling in love with me.
Oh.
Oh.
I knew it on some level. In the way my stomach dropped when I saw him bleeding in the snow. In the way my chest loosened when he said he wasn’t going anywhere. In the way the idea of leaving Lucy Falls felt like pulling my own roots out.
But saying it aloud, in front of Kael, in a hospital gown, attached to a machine?
That’s just…peak me. That wasn’t for me to say, but also… I kind of want to curl into a ball and maybe never stop smiling. Because it’s true. And I love him. I need to tell him that.
Voices murmur in the hall.
I can’t make out every word, but I hear tones—Kael’s low rumble, Jack’s steady cadence, Bran’s quiet responses.
Then Kael says, louder: “What exactly is this with my cousin, Bran?”
I hold my breath. There’s a pause. When Bran answers, his voice is steady.
“It’s not a fling,” he says. “It’s not a job. It’s…her. I love her, Kael. I’m not walkin’ away from that.”
My eyes sting. Kael swears softly.
