Page 154

"I'm listening."

"If I tell you to run..."

"I'm not leaving you."

His grip tightens slightly.

"You have to."

"I won't."

"You have Sayer."

"So do you."

Silence. The forest itself seems to hold its breath.

"I spent 15 years believing I'd failed both of you."

His voice is barely above a whisper.

"I won't fail you again."

Something inside me breaks. Not from fear. From certainty. I slide one hand against his chest. His heartbeat is steady. Strong. The same heartbeat that has somehow called to mine since the moment he knocked on my door.

"You didn't fail us."

"I wasn't there."

"Neither was I."

"We were kept apart."

"Exactly."

The anger I've been carrying for years suddenly has somewhere to go. Not toward him.

Toward whoever decided our family should never exist.

I step closer until there isn't any space left between us.

"I don't want to walk into this fight with regrets."

"You won't."

"How can you know that?"

His forehead rests lightly against mine.

"Because I'm done wasting time."

The kiss begins gently. Nothing frantic. Nothing desperate. Just two people finally choosing each other without hesitation. The world falls away. The Hollow. The entity. The fear.

Everything disappears for one perfect moment. When we finally separate, neither of us moves very far.

"I trust you," I whisper.

His eyebrows lift.