Gran nods.
Raoul gives me a tight smile.
Effa squeezes my hand.
“Fine,” I mutter.
The room seems to exhale and soften.
“But I check in every day,” I add. “Morning and night.”
“Deal,” Kiera says immediately.
Effa leans into me, her voice soft. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For choosing to come back with me.”
“If I could split myself in half, I would. But I can’t. Gran’s here, and I need to look after you. And Tank would absolutely butcher the lighting without me.”
“You’re insufferable.” Effa snorts.
I grin faintly and kiss her.
It’s not easy.
It’s not clean.
But it is right.
There’s more than just emotion tied up in this decision, though.
Work means money.
Money means debt.
And that ugly knot tightens in my stomach.
Vex won’t wait forever.
And now that the procedure’s covered, maybe I can start dividing what I’ve set aside. Pay back Effa and set up an arrangement with Vex.
If he agrees.
If he doesn’t…
I don’t know how much longer I can keep that secret buried.
And that might be the thing that blows everything apart.
Chapter Nineteen
EFFA
Four Weeks Later
Just over a month ago, watching Mercs say goodbye to Kiera nearly broke me. Hell, saying goodbye to her myself felt like ripping something out of my chest. But she wouldn’t let us linger in it. She was adamant that we keep living, keep moving, not let her recovery become the thing that stalls our lives.
