Page 254 of Silent Target

“I know.”

“You don’t decide what risks I’m allowed to take.”

“I know.”

“And when you become afraid, you tell me.”

His hands settle around my waist.

“I’m afraid now.”

The honesty surprises me.

“Of what?”

“That this is temporary.”

I touch his face.

“It isn’t.”

“You can’t promise forever after three days.”

“No.”

I rise onto my toes.

“But I can choose tomorrow.”

I kiss him.

“And the day after that.”

Another kiss.

“And every day you give me a reason to stay.”

His forehead rests against mine.

“That sounds like pressure.”

“It is.”

“Good.”

He kisses me with a tenderness that makes my chest ache.

When we separate, he places the Shadow Division coin in my palm and closes my fingers around it.

My old life ended in a dark hallway at Langley.

My new one begins here.

Not because Caleb rescued me.

Because he came when I asked for help—and trusted me enough to fight beside him afterward.

EPILOGUE