My hands grab his face.
“You came back.”
His expression softens immediately.
“Hannah—”
“You came back.”
My voice breaks completely.
Because everyone in my life before him disappeared eventually.
Parents.
Memories.
Avery.
Even Gabriel for years.
But Clay?
Clay dove into a flooded river without hesitation.
For us.
For my brother.
For me.
Something inside my chest gives way completely.
The storm rages around us.
Sentinel is still out there.
Wu escaped.
Children are still trapped somewhere underground.
But right here—
right now—
all I can see is Clay.
And the terrifying truth finally settles fully into my heart.
Wu was wrong.
Whatever I feel for Clay—
it was never conditioning.
Because nobody programmed Clay Vincent to love me like this.
38
