For a moment, I saw the memory in his eyes—the moment everything went wrong.
I remembered it too. The fall. The dust. The terrifying second when I thought I might never see him again.
I pushed my chair back and stood.
He stood instantly, like a drawn blade.
“I’m okay,” I told him.
“I know,” he said.
But the way he looked at me told me he still needed proof. So, I stepped closer.
Rygnar
When she moved toward me, my body reacted before my mind did.
My hands closed around her waist, pulling her close enough that I could feel her heartbeat through the thin fabric of her shirt.
Alive. Warm. Real.
My chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with combat.
“You should be resting,” I said.
She shook her head.
“I tried that,” she replied. “It didn’t work.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes searched my face.
“Because I kept thinking about how close we came to losing each other.”
The words struck directly into the same place where the memory lived.
My grip tightened slightly—not trapping her, just anchoring.
“That will not happen again,” I said.
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
I lowered my forehead to hers.
“But I can promise this moment.”
Her breath warmed my mouth.
“That’s a good start,” she whispered.
Lina
When his forehead touched mine, something inside me finally settled.
The tension that had been humming through my body since the rescue began to dissolve.
