“Hey,” he murmured quietly.
That one word almost broke me.
I swallowed hard. “She watched them kill her mother.”
Pain flashed across his face instantly.
He glanced toward the sleeping little girl against me.
Then back to me.
“She’s alive because of you now.”
My chest ached.
“Hersh…”
“You hear me?” he said softly.
I nodded again.
But he still looked unconvinced.
Like he knew exactly how guilt was creeping inside me.
Like he understood I was already wondering if all these deaths somehow traced back to me.
His forehead touched mine gently.
Just for a second.
“None of this is your fault.”
The emotion that hit me then came fast and brutal.
Because nobody had said that to me.
Not once.
Not since this nightmare started.
I closed my eyes briefly.
And God help me?—
I leaned into him.
The room around us disappeared.
Thunder.
Voices.
Weapons.
Fear.
None of it mattered for one tiny heartbeat.
