a's

dn't b

s thin-but because everything inside me felt too tight, like my sou

e noise in my head. The conversation with Dominic still echoed like a song stuck on repeat. Words like Moonborn, Luna, proph

pite the warm summer breeze. I'd come out here to

always mea

ds haun

hat the system teaches you when you're shuffled from foster home to foster home like unwante

was telling me I

isappearing into the night air. It sou

.. gravity about him. When he entered a room, the air shifted. It wasn't just his looks-though yes, the man could silence a room

id, his voice low and quiet. Not te

nose. "Is that one of your

he stepped closer. "But I don't need t

of his jaw catching the soft gold light from inside. He looked tired. Not the kind of tired you get from

how steady my voice sounded. "

t that there was no easy answer. "You will make a choice," he said eventually, pushi

sn't co

eel like I'm drowning. Like the water's risin

ot alone

" I whispered, "but it

I saw him. I didn't move away this time. Maybe because I wa

or your shoulders. I know what it's like to wake up and wonder how the hell you got here-at the ce

y, searching his face

. One after the other. Some I regret. Some saved lives. But I learned that do

osed off. The part that remembered sleeping in strange beds, pretending not

ed. Not to test him. I genuinely wanted

at kind of strength you have yet. But it's the

e him. God, I need

A crappy apartment. A coffee shop job. Maybe s

ut maybe you were meant

ry telling that to the girl who used to st

ely audible. "You won't have to steal again. Not for food.

silen

t his promise. I didn't know what he truly felt, or what role he played in all of this beyond what he'd told me. But I bel

what if I choose wrong and people die? What

e can to protect the people who matter. But doing nothing... letting

mething painful cat

'm brave enough," I

d hear the way his breath hitched. "Then start by believing it's

ething in me-and he

'll think about it. I'll

But not too long. We don't have

shone like they had all the answers. They didn't.

ne small, shaky step