They’re all here.
Gray on my right, close enough to touch, one hand hovering near my shoulder like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he blinks. His leg is straight again—healed—but his eyes are red-rimmed and raw.
Wes kneeling in front of me, face blotchy, tear tracks still wet on his cheeks. He’s not trying to hide it. He’s just looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
Rhett beside him, hands still faintly warm, fire banked but steady. The burns on his arms are gone.
Jace a little further back, one hand on his knee, the other pressed flat against the ground like he needs to feel something solid. His ribs aren’t broken anymore. I can tell by the way he’s breathing.
Theo watching me with quiet awe, like he’s seeing something no one else can.
Thane behind Stellan, silver eyes wet.Wet.I’ve never seen Thane cry.
And Seth—unconscious still, but breathing. The wrongness that clung to him is gone.
They’re all looking at me.
I should say something. Something meaningful. Something that matches the weight of this moment.
Instead, I start crying.
Just… tears. Streaming down my face, dripping off my chin, and I can’t stop them because Isaw.
I saw everything.
I don’t know how to explain it—I wasn’t unconscious, not really. I wasthere, floating above myself, watching them fight for me. Watching Thane fall apart. Watching Wes scream. Watching Gray crawl. Watching Stellan wrap himself around my body like he could hold my soul in place through sheer force of will.
“I saw you.”
The words come out rough. Broken.
Everyone goes still.
“I wasn’t—” I swallow. Try again. “I wasn’t gone. I was… above. Watching.”
Wes makes a sound like I’ve just hit him.
“I saw what you did.” I look at each of them in turn. “All of you. I felt it.”
Gray’s jaw tightens. Rhett looks away. Jace’s hand curls into a fist against the ground.
But no one speaks.
“I knew you loved me.” My voice cracks. I don’t try to fix it. “I knew, even if you didn’t say it. But I didn’t—I didn’t understand what thatmeant. Not until I watched you think I was gone.”
Stellan’s arms tighten around me. Barely. But I feel it.
“I’m here because of you.” I reach out—toward Wes first, because he’s closest, because his face is still wet, because he looks like he might shatter if I don’t touch him soon.
My fingers brush his cheek.
He breaks. Folds forward, forehead dropping to my knee, shoulders shaking.
I let my hand rest on the back of his head. Look up at the others.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The words are simple. Quiet.
