Page 252 of Ignite

I stop, but I can’t turn around.

If I look at her, I’ll fall apart.

She wraps her arms around me from behind and holds on so tight it hurts.

“I can’t tell you it’s going to be okay, because I don’t honestly know,” she whispers, her voice thick with tears. “But I can tell you that you have an army around you to help you. You aren’t alone in this. You never were.”

“He told me he loved me,” I gasp, my chest heaving. “He said goodbye to me, Lily. He looked me in the eye and told me he loved me, like he already knew it was the end.”

My voice cracks on the last word, and a sob breaks free.

I press my fist to my mouth to stop the sound, but it’s useless.

“Did you tell him you loved him back?”

I nod.

God, I nod so hard my neck hurts.

“I did. I told him. But what if it wasn’t enough?”

She presses her forehead to mine.

“It was enough. It’s always been enough.”

“Shall we go back inside?” she asks softly. “We don’t want to miss any updates.”

“Okay.”

My voice is so small, it doesn’t even sound like me.

Chapter 98

HALLIE

The armed men outside Conan’s room nod silently as Lily guides me past them.

The moment we step inside, the stillness hits me like a brick.

It’s too quiet.

Too clean.

It doesn’t feel real that he might not be here to fill it with that deep, rumbling voice ever again.

I sink into the nearest chair, my body too heavy to hold itself up anymore.

Lily moves behind me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

I close my eyes, letting her hold me together because I don’t think I can do it on my own.

The clock on the wall ticks, every second loud and deliberate, counting out my punishment.

I feel like I’m trapped in a loop—waiting for someone to come and tell me the last shred of hope is gone.

When the door finally creaks open, I jerk upright so fast I see stars.

Finn steps in, still in his blue scrubs.

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