Page 228 of Sage Haven
“You know?” He smiled briefly, “I’ve always wanted a normal life… a home… a family… a dog… but the truth is…” He stopped, as he battled against his words. “I can’t ever promise that. I can’t promise that we won’t always be fighting for our lives.” His voice cracked.
I held him tightly, trying to ground him with my presence and keep his mind from spinning into flight mode.
“I don’t care about any of those things,” I told him, steady and true. “Because I only care that you are with me—that in some way, you're alwaysthere.”
His eyes darkened, a storm gathering in their depths.
“Okay,” he said.
He laced his fingers through mine, gripping them tight, his palm warm and solid against mine.
It felt like a vow.
And in that moment, I knew—no matter what came next. No matter the war we were going to have to fight. We were in it together.
And this time, there was no hesitation. No fear. Only certainty—or so I thought.
52
REICH
Iheld her inmy arms, drowning in the depths of those beautiful eyes—eyes I never imagined would be my undoing.
And yet here I was. Unmade by a single glance. Stripped bare by the way she looked at me, like I was something more than the ruin I’d always believed myself to be. Like I was someone worth loving.
Her gaze held no judgment. Just quiet acceptance. The kind that could build worlds—or tear them down.
And God help me, I wanted to build one with her.
For her.
For us.
I wanted to change everything. Rewrite every fucked-up chapter of my life, burn every page that kept me bound to the past. I wanted to give her something better. Something safer.
Something clean.
But there was no clean with me.
I was blood and shadow.
And she was breath and light.
Soft and wild, like the glow of candlelight flickering in the pitch-black void I called my world.
She thought I was saving her.
But maybe—maybe it was the other way around.
I had been beyond redemption. A machine built for chaos and destruction.
I was numb. Calloused. Worn down by years of war, both inside and out.
My hands and body had been made to kill.
My heart was nothing but a hollow shell I’d long since given up on trying to fix.
My soul was all rough edges and jagged pieces that didn’t fit together anymore on their own or with anyone.
