I felt hers.
Warm.
Gentle.
Real.
I didn't know how long we lay there like that—her holding me, and me letting myself be held.
Minutes.
Hours.
Time had lost all meaning somewhere between the prison and this bed.
But slowly, gradually, I felt something shift inside my chest. The jagged edges of what I'd broken tonight began to smooth. The weight I'd been carrying since I walked out of that shower began to lift.
Not completely.
Some weights I might carry forever.
But enough.
Enough to breathe again.
Enough to feel something other than horror.
I lifted my head from her neck and looked at her.
Moonlight caught the angles of her face—the high cheekbones, the full lips, the dark eyes that held no judgment. Only love. Only patience. Only a steadiness that made me want to weep with gratitude.
"How did I survive before you?" The words came out raw. Honest in a way I rarely allowed myself to be.
She smiled—soft, sad, and knowing. "You didn't survive. You just existed. There's a difference."
Yes. . .there's definitely a difference.
Before her, I had been surviving. Moving through days like a shark through water—always forward, never stopping, because stopping meant thinking and thinking meant feeling and feeling meant drowning.
But this?
This warmth spreading through my chest?
This peace settling into my bones?
This wasn't survival.
This was something I'd forgotten existed.
This waslife.
This waslove.
"Nyomi." I cupped her face in my hands and traced the curve of her cheekbones with my thumbs. "I need you to know something."
She widened her eyes.
"What you did tonight—finding those snakes, unraveling that network—you didn't just save me." I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing the same air she breathed. "You saved everyoneI love. Everyone I'm responsible for on this island. Hundreds of people. You gave me a chance to end this war before the Fox destroyed everything."
