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If your mom says yes.

Oh.

The words hit somewhere soft and sore.

Poppy twists toward me so fast her hair whips across her cheek. “Mom?”

The answer should be easy.

It’s Leon.

Leon, who carried me out of Main Street when Russ left me bleeding. Leon, who gave me a gun and trusted me to use it. Leon, who trained me without pushing past what I could take. Leon, who stepped back the other day even though every part of me wanted him not to.

Still, the bow waits between us.

A weapon.

In my daughter’s hands.

My first instinct is no.

Not because of Leon.

Because Poppy is ten. Because the world already asks too much of her. Because she should be drawing ribbiting princesses and complaining about chores, not learning how to put arrows through dead things.

But then Kevin’s hand is on my sleeve again.

My body locking.

My breath going useless.

Leon saving me because I couldn’t make myself move.

And behind all of that, the thought that nearly gutted me worse than Kevin’s teeth ever could.

What happens to Poppy if I freeze and no one reaches her in time?

Poppy waits, fingers curled around her pencil, hope all over her face.

Leon waits too.

No pressure. No expectation. Just patience.

Not asking me to pretend the world is safe.

Asking me to let her have one more way to survive it.

I force air into my lungs and nod. “Yes.”

Poppy makes a sound that might actually crack the sky.

Leon’s mouth curves as he holds the bow out.

She takes it carefully, both hands wrapping around the grip like he’s offering her treasure. “It’s like I’m Katniss!”

Leon blinks once. Slowly.

I bite back a smile. “Character from one of her favorite book series.”