“Alright,” he said simply, and leaned his head against my shoulder.
Outside, the faint light of dawn crept through the blinds, soft and gold against the walls.
I should’ve worried about the morning, about what came next. But all I could do was sit there, listening to Simon’s breathing grow slow and even as he drifted toward sleep.
He was safe. For now, that was enough. I brushed a strand of hair from his face, my thumb lingering against his temple.
“Sleep, Simon,” I murmured.
He made a quiet sound of acknowledgment but didn’t move. His hand stayed in mine, grip loose but sure.
The sunlight reached the edge of the curtains, spilling faint traces of warmth into the room. I closed my eyes for a moment.
I’d walked away from the Guild, from everything I’d been taught to protect. Yet, lying here, with Simon safe beside me, it didn’t feel like loss. It felt like the first real choice I’d ever made.
Later, after he’d fallen asleep, I sat by the window, watching the light shift from grey to gold. The motel parking lot was empty except for our van, and the sound of distant traffic hummed in the air.
I should’ve been thinking about next steps. How to cover our tracks, where to go, who might already be on our trail. But all I could think about was him.
Simon, asleep on that creaky motel bed, looking more at peace than he had any right to after tonight.
He wasn’t supposed to mean this much. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t get attached again. The Guild trained that out of you. Attachment, emotion, anything that made you hesitate.
But I couldn’t unlearn him.
The thought came suddenly, unbidden.If this night had gone differently. if Marcus had won, if Simon hadn’t survived…
I shook my head.
The Guild wasn’t my family anymore. They never had been. They took what they wanted, obedience, blood, and loyalty. They gave nothing back.
But Simon gave me something I didn’t realize I’d been missing. Something real.
I turned away from the window, letting my gaze fall on him again. His hand was resting palm-up on the blanket, fingers slightly curled.
Without thinking, I went to him and sank down on the edge of the bed.
He stirred slightly when I touched his hand, eyes fluttering open. “Kit?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Come here,” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.
I hesitated for all of half a second before lying down beside him. His arm slid around my waist, his face pressing against my chest.
For the first time in what felt like years, the tension eased from my body. The noise in my head went quiet.
“I’m here,” I said softly.
He hummed something sleepy in response.
Outside, the world was waking up, birds calling, a truck rumbling down the highway, but inside this small, rundown room, time felt like it had stopped. It was just the two of us.
I knew, as sure as I’d ever known anything, that I wasn’t going back. Wherever Simon went next, I’d be there too.
18
SIMON
