“I had to.”
My breath stutters.
I press my knuckles against my mouth like it might stop whatever’s splitting inside me.
Then his voice shifts.
Darkens.
Drops—
Not a threat.
A vow.
“I’d kill anyone who touches you.”
A silence wide enough to fall into.
“I’d burn this place to the ground if it meant keeping you alive.”
The words don’t close my throat.
They pry something open.
A shiver claws down my spine—
Not fear.
Recognition.
It lands on my chest like lightning finding its home.
No one has ever claimed me like that.
Not my mother. Not my father. Not the church. Not the family. Not blood or prayer or obligation.
No one has ever said, you are mine and meant I will destroy worlds for you.
My hands shake.
My eyes sting.
“You shouldn’t want me,” I whisper.
It tears out of me.
Every doubt.Every scar.Every ugly truth stitched into my bones like a birthmark.
“You shouldn’t,” I repeat, my voice fraying now. “I’m… I’m wrong in too many ways to fix.”
Silence stretches.
Not empty.
Charged.
Then—
