Page 58 of What We Become

“Fury.”

“I should have listened. I should have⁠—”

“Fury.” I turn to face her. She doesn’t turn, so I do it for her—one hand on her jaw, gentle, tilting her face until she has to look at me. Her eyes are glassy, the tears threatening.

“There’s no part of this that’s your fault.”

“Knox—”

“None of it.” My thumb traces her cheekbone. Her skin is cool from the mountain air. “He fooled all of us. You. Me. Holden and his background checks. Milo and all his tech shit. You wanted a friend. That’s not a crime.”

“But if I’d just⁠—”

“No, Fury.” I hold her face steady. Both hands now, her whole jaw cradled in my palms. She looks so small between my hands. “Listen, I’m not gonna lie to you—I never want to hold your lifeless body in my arms again.”

The memory of it is carved into me now. Her weight against my chest. Her mouth open and not breathing. The sound Micah made when he thought⁠—

I cut the thought off before it finishes.

Her lower lip trembles. “I know.”

“I don’t think you do.” My hands slide from her jaw to the sides of her neck, thumbs resting under her ears. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be standing out here apologizing for wanting a life.”

The blanket slips on one side. I pull it back up around her shoulders.

“You get to want normal shit,” I say. “Dinner with friends. Space. Freedom. Air. You get to want all of it. And I’m gonna make sure you have it.”

“But what if somebody uses that against me again? What if we never catch Stephen? What if we do, and the next asshole who wants to hurt one of you realizes I’m the easiest way in?”

“Then I kill them. Easy.”

“Every time?”

“Every time.”

“What if that’s all our lives become, Knox? You watching every door. Holden checking every name. Milo putting trackers in everything I own. All five of you building your lives around keeping me alive.” Her fingers twist in the blanket. “I know I’m important to you. That’s what makes me useful to people like Stephen.”

“Fury—”

“He came for me. But every time he does, he gets through me too. He hurts all of you.” Her voice breaks. “I’m not worth five men turning their whole lives into protecting mine.”

“You’re worth it. My life is yours.”

Her eyes flick down. “I’m not an asset you were assigned, Knox. There’s no medal of valor if you jump in front of danger to save me.”

“No.” I drag my knuckles down her cheek. “But you’re the beating of my heart.”

For a second, she just stares at me.

Then her whole face changes.

Her mouth parts. Her breath catches. Like I’ve hit a wire under the skin I wasn’t aiming for. I don’t take it back. I don’t know how.

I meant it.

Somebody else would put a joke on it. I don’t have one.

“Knox,” she whispers.