The path had never been clearer.
That kiss had marked the beginning.
The slip.
The opening.
Soon,she would feel it.
The pull. The truth.
Soon, she’d open her eyes.
Soon, she’d see who truly knew her,
Who had always seen her fire, her fury, her worth.
Because she had always beenhis.
Had beensince the first time he heard her name.
Would be until the last breath left their lungs.
And maybe—
Even after that.
CHAPTER 26
Blood in the Water
Rain turned savage when Arden and Penny reached their building. Wind sliced through the downpour, bending trees and splattering glass like the sky had turned against them. The city blurred into smears of gold and gray. Penny wrestled her key into the front lock.
“Ruined,” Penny muttered dramatically, flicking a soaked strand of lavender-streaked hair from her face. “My curls, my shoes, my faith in meteorologists—gone.”
Arden barely heard her. Her pulse was rising, the night pressing too hard at the edges. Penny retreated toward her room, grumbling, but Arden lingered in the living room, the low rumble of the storm vibrating in her chest.
She stood at the window. Unmoving. Silent. Her fingers pressed against the cold glass, watching the storm lash against the city like it was trying to wake something.
The kiss still burned through her, wild and electric.
She felt Gideon’s hands, his mouth, the way he’d looked at her, like he’d never seen anything so real.
God.
It hadn’t just rattled her. It had undone her. Completely.
It wasn’t until her breath began to steady that she moved toward her desk. The lamp’s warm glow spilled across worn notebook pages, scraps of thought, pieces of herself. Hope. Hurt. The mess in between.
She traced the curve of a half-finished sentence, her fingertip catching on the ink ridge, then picked up the pen. The scent of ink and warm paper wrapped around her, comforting in its familiarity.
She sat.
Breathed.
Opened the notebook.
And then, she wrote.
