Page 294 of Reaper Said Mine

"Ursa."

The way he says my name makes my chest ache.

"I was afraid too."

The admission steals my breath.

"I thought every message might be the last one."

His thumb brushes across my knuckles.

"I thought every argument might be the one that finally convinced you I wasn't worth the trouble."

I open my mouth.

Nothing comes out.

He continues.

"I thought one day you would look at everything surrounding me—the war, the blood, the politics, the chaos—and decide you deserved something easier."

God.

The idiot.

The enormous, terrifying, impossible idiot.

I laugh through tears.

His expression becomes alarmed, which somehow makes me laugh harder.

"What?"

"Gnash."

"What?"

"You thought I wanted easy?"

His face remains stubbornly serious.

"Reasonable people generally do."

I squeeze his hand.

"Good thing I'm not reasonable."

A reluctant smile appears.

Small. Real. Beautiful.

I lean forward carefully, ribs protesting.

"Listen to me."

His attention narrows completely.

The station, the war, the investigations, the endless crises waiting outside this room all seem to fall away.