Jakob let out a quiet humph.
“That was Meg’s favorite phrase,” Mallory said. “She said it right before everything. Good ideas, bad ideas, it didn’t matter. As long as we were together.”
Her fingers curled into the blanket. The room seemed to shrink, like it always did when she got this far.
“She knew me better than anyone,” Mallory said. “I didn’t have to explain myself to her. Ever. If I was mad, she knew why. If I was scared, she already had a plan.” Her voice softened. “And if I screwed up, she stood in front of me and took the hit.”
Jakob shifted in his chair, something tightening behind his eyes.
“She wasn’t perfect,” Mallory said quickly, as if that mattered. “She could be reckless. Stubborn. She hated being told what to do.” A pause. “But she loved fiercely. That’s why it felt so strange when things started changing. Not wrong at first. Just… different.”
Jakob didn’t prompt her. He didn’t rush her. He waited.
“It was the boyfriend,” Mallory said quietly. “The last one. Before she disappeared.” The words sat heavy in her chest. “Before him, it was always Meg and me against the world. After him…” She shook her head. “It was like there was suddenly a door between us. Not locked. Just closed.”
Her throat tightened. “And I didn’t know how to knock on it. And then two years ago, poof. She was gone.”
Silence stretched between them, thick but not uncomfortable. Jakob reached out and took her hand.
Mallory let out a slow breath. “That’s the part people don’t get,” she said. “When Meg vanished, it wasn’t just losing my sister.” Her eyes burned, but she kept going. “It was losing the person who remembered every version of me that ever existed.”
She finally looked at Jakob again. “So when I say I need to find out what happened to her,” she said, steady now, “it’s not because I’m stuck in the past.”
Jakob met her gaze, unwavering.
“It’s because half of my life just… walked away one day,” Mallory finished. “Without a word and without a thought of how it would affect me. And now she left me after I got shot,” Mallory said with her tears spilling freely now. “I stepped in front of her to protect her, and yet when I was shot, she ran as if she had pulled the trigger. I can tell myself there has to be another explanation, but there isn’t.” Her breath hitched. “My sister is the enemy.”
Saying it out loud hurt worse than the bullet.
Jakob closed his eyes briefly, then leaned closer, careful not to jostle her. “I’m so sorry,” he said, voice low and steady. “I don’t know what to say.”
Mallory laughed weakly, a broken sound. “At least now I know I wasn’t crazy. And at least…” She took a shuddering breath. “At least I know why everything felt wrong.”
Jakob nodded once. “Meg will have to be brought to justice,” he said gently but firmly. “No matter who she is. It’s my duty.”
“I know,” Mallory said. The acceptance surprised her with its solidity. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t destroy me.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy but honest.
Mallory reached for him with trembling fingers. Jakob took her hand instantly and pressed it to his chest.
“I need to tell you something,” she said. “Because when I thought I was dying, when everything started to go dark, I realized I couldn’t bear it if you never knew.”
His breath caught.
“I love you,” Mallory said simply. “And I would have been haunted forever if I hadn’t said it.”
Jakob bent forward and rested his forehead against her hand with his eyes shut tight. For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
Then he looked at her with his emotions raw and open.
“I will fight for you,” he said. “For us. I swear it.” His thumb brushed over her knuckles, reverent. “And I will find a way forward that doesn’t cost you your family. I don’t know how yet but I will not stop trying.”
Mallory exhaled and something inside her finally loosened.
He rubbed her face. “And I love you, too.”
For the first time since the gunshot, she believed there might still be a future waiting on the other side of the pain.
