He arched a brow. “You wanted honesty, didn’t you?”
I threw my hands out at my sides. “Why now?”
“You and I both know you’re my weakness. Harvest knows it too. I need you to stay away from the crossover when it opens.”
It wasn’t just a pinch to my chest. The feeling hit harder—like a sucker punch straight to the hope I’d let myself feel from his earlier words.
I laughed, but it came out raw and cracked. “So all that? You said all that just to keep me out of your way when it’s time for your big finale?”
Luke exhaled sharply, nostrils flaring as he stepped closer. Even with a few inches between us, the heat of his body pressed against mine.
“You’re mortal, Kara.”
“Don’t act like you care,” I snapped. “Not when you’re making a choice that erases me.”
“This was the only way!” he shouted.
I recoiled as the weight of his voice hit me. “I’ve told you—so many times—to say your goodbyes,” he added, his jaw tight. “I know what’s coming. And I’ll get what I want.”
“I hate you!” The words tore out of me. Luke flinched as if I’d hit him.
“I despise you,” I spat. “You’re the one person in the world who’s supposed to be mine—and you can’t even bekindto me. Not once. Never.”
He tilted his head slowly. The hard lines on his forehead eased, and something in his expression softened—just slightly.
“Is that what you want?”
I blinked. “What?”
“You want me to be soft toward you?”
What did it matter anymore? He was still going to let me fade. But when he said…
“I can be soft.”
…my heart did a pathetic little thump.
“You soft?” I whispered.
I itched to reach for him—but I didn’t.
I couldn’t stand myself—not even a little. How easily I slid back into pretending. Pretending I didn’t have to hurt the man standing in front of me in just a few hours.
But oh, how good it felt to borrow one more moment. To ignore the future.
Just a little longer…
Hades, Luke was right. I was so naïve.
Claws sheathed, his fingers gently traced along my jaw.
“I could look at you every second of every day,” he murmured, “so much that when I’m not looking, I’m thinking about when I will again. It’s disgusting.”
Even now—when he was being vulnerable—he still knew how to ruin everything he said.
I sighed. “Really?”
“I didn’t say I’d be good at being soft.”
