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“No.”

“You don’t get to decide.”

“I know what happened the last time a McBride stood in this field.”

“So does Kai.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“It does me.”

His expression falls just a fraction.

I touch his arm.

Bad idea. Heat sparks again.

He looks at my hand and I remove it. “Trust me.”

His eyes lift. “I don’t.”

“Wow.”

“I trust you.”

He looks toward Malakai. “I don’t trust what this place can make you want.”

There it is. I understand. Finally. Not what the Harvest wants. What I want. What it can amplify.

I step closer. “Then trust me to know the difference.”

Ezra looks at me for a long time then at Malakai. “If she says stop…”

“I stop.”

“If she wants to leave…”

“She leaves.”

“If anything changes…”

“I’ll bring her back.”

Ezra’s jaw tightens.

Malakai steps closer. “And if the Harvest tries to take her, I tear the field apart with my hands.”

Something passes between them. Two centuries of history I don’t understand.

Finally, Ezra backs away. One step. Then another.

Rhett pushes away from the corn. As he passes me, he stops. His mouth comes close to my ear. “Don’t run.”

I look at him.

His grin appears. “Unless you want me to follow.”

Heat shoots through me.