“Jesus,” she mutters. “They’re so shook.”
“I know.”
“I’m shook. I still can’t believe I just participated in a kidnapping. At a high school. On TikTok Live.”
I turn to her. “Wait, was it actually live?”
She makes a face. “No. I just recorded it. But still. That footage exists. It could be evidence.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “This is so fucking crazy.”
Naomi nods grimly. “Yup.”
“But if you hadn’t done what you did, those kids would be dead right now. You saved them.”
She glances at me, quieter now. “Yeah, thanks.”
I arch a brow. “So was it for the kids, or was it for Travis?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
“I mean, you did cross state lines and commit a felony. Just wondering if Travis asked you nicely or if it was more of a ‘whatever you need, I’m yours’ kind of vibe.”
She stutters and blushes instantly, looking away.
I grin. “It’s okay. If you two are… you know.”
She fidgets. “We’re taking things slow. I don’t even know what this is yet. I mean, are we just trauma bonding? Or is it real? I don’t know. Surviving a massacre together does weird things to your brain.”
I nod. “Trust me, I get it.”
Naomi’s voice softens. “He’s the only one who protected me at the hotel. Everyone else was screaming or running or just… dying. But Travis stayed.”
“Travis is a great guy,” I glance toward the hallway. “He deserves the best.”
She smiles faintly. “Yeah.”
Footsteps echo down the hallway before either of us can say more. Travis rounds the corner, still in his hoodie, dark circles under his eyes but more grounded than earlier.
“How are the kids?” he asks.
“As good as can be,” I rub the back of my neck. “They’re quiet.”
He nods like he expected that. Then his gaze slides to Naomi. “Can we talk? Somewhere private?”
“Sure.” She pushes away from the wall and moves toward him without hesitation.
I watch them disappear down the hall together, and something in my chest softens.
Travis is the only person who’s never left me. When the world exploded after Stratford, he stayed. When it got worse at Everspring, when people we trusted turned on us, when Uncle John betrayed me and Mary covered it up, he was still there. Not just watching my back. Fighting beside me. Protecting people. Surviving.
And now here he is, trying to let someone in. It feels like hope. A weird, tentative kind.
He deserves that.
I walk down the hall to the bedroom.
I find Seth in the dark.
