He dared not break the silence.
So she did.
She tore from Gabriel.
And Viktor shattered.
“Amerei…”
She gathered him into her arms.
His leather armor felt foreign against her skin—like holding a stranger she still knew by heart.
“I won’t stop you,” she whispered. “But I don’t understand.”
“I’ll come back,” he vowed.
His tears fell hot into her hair.
“I just need to find him. To know that he’s safe.”
She pulled back just enough to see his face. Her hands framed his jaw, brow pressed to his.
“Let me—”
But her words faltered.
She looked into his eyes and saw it—he had already gone.
And yet, as if she could still reach him, her lips trembled.
“I cannot bear to be apart from you.”
“Then I’ll run faster than I’ve ever dared.”
He closed his eyes and kissed her, fierce, desperate.
She didn’t ask him to promise again.
She didn’t ask him to stay.
She loved him—dask, she loved him—more than she feared letting him go.
“Take me with you,” Gabriel stepped into the light. “We’ll ride out at dawn.”
“Horses will slow me down,” Viktor cut in, already pulling away.
He looked at Amerei.
“I’ll come back to you. I swear it.”
He caught her face in both hands, desperate and shaking, as if he could burn the memory of her into his palms before he let go.
“Do you trust me?”
She had asked him that very thing before they left for Castle Amethyst.
Before she walked away with Xavien.
