Page 158 of Anton

“I can’t lose her.” My fingers close over my chest as the pressure beneath my ribs grows unbearable. “If she dies…”

“She won’t.” The certainty in his face makes me want to believe him.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.” He nods. “She’s yours, and she’ll stay that way.”

I look away, fixing my gaze on the wall. “Everything good gets taken from me.”

“When have we ever had anything good?” A dry chuckle leaves him.

“Our mother. Whatever little we had of her.”

“You remember her?” There’s surprise in his tone.

“Not really.” My throat works around the answer as I face him again. “But she comes to me in my dreams sometimes.”

He drops his head against the wall behind him. “Tell her I said hello, will you? Tell her I miss her.”

We stay in the quiet for a long stretch of time.

As Konstantin starts to rise, he says, “When you’re done destroying the room, go be with Thora. She will want to know you’re there, guiding her out of the darkness.”

A bitter laugh slices its way out of me. “I am the darkness.”

“Net.” He shakes his head. “That is not how she sees you, and maybe it’s time you finally see what she does.”

The hospital bed is too narrow for both of us, but I stay beside her anyway, one arm tucked under her shoulders while my knuckles move over her cold forehead and down the side of her face.

Her eyes remain closed, her skin so pale that if not for the steady beeping of the machines, I could almost believe she was already gone. That thought alone makes my grip stiffen around her.

“Wherever you are, detka, you wait for me. I will find you. I will tear through every wall and bring you back.”

I wait for her to flinch, to give me any sign that she hears me, but nothing comes.

“I’m sorry.” My thumb moves over her wrist, over the bruises left behind by rope. “I should’ve come after you, but I promise I will never leave you unprotected again.” I kiss her forehead, breathing her in. “You just have to come back to me.”

A creak comes from the doorway, and I snap my head in that direction, not seeing anyone.

“Who’s there?”

Greer strides into the room, her hair piled into a haphazard bun.

“If you’re planning to ask me to leave, don’t bother.”

“I wasn’t going to.” She assesses me before taking the chair on the other side of the bed, her attention passing over the arm I have wrapped around Thora before landing on her sister’s condition.

“How long were you there spying?”

She shrugs. “Long enough to know you’re in love with my sister and she can do better than you.”

Exhaustion has hollowed me out so completely that all I can manage is a flat laugh. “What else is new?”

A smile flickers on her face and dies just as fast. “I also know she could do a hell of a lot worse.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

Greer peers at Thora. “She’s going to wake up, right?”