Finn exhales.“Okay.”
But when he says okay, it sounds like surrender.
When I say okay, it sounds like a vow.
When Wren returns—hair damp, cheeks flushed, wearing her own clothes again—I see the shift fully.
She’s not asking for courage.
She’s wearing it.
She tugs her jacket on and lifts her chin.
“Let’s go to practice.”
We follow her out the door like gravity itself decided she was the center of it.
And maybe she is.
Tonight, she’ll sleep alone.
But she won’t be alone.
Not with us watching the shadows.
Not with me parked under her window.
Not ever again.
Chapter 49: Wren
Iexpect practice tofeel awkward.
I expect Kael to stand ten feet away with his arms crossed and that look he gets when he’s thinking too hard.
I expect Finn to hover.
