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A small chuckle escapes me. “Summer has no idea how lucky she is to have three god-like men scouring the earth for her.”

His gaze darkens, and his thumb traces my jaw with aching reverence. “We’re not doing this for her,” he says, his voice quiet. “We’re doing this for you. Because you deserve to have your world put back together, and if finding Summer does that…”

He leans his forehead against mine, and his breath warms my lips. So close, yet so far.

“Then we’ll tear apart every corner of this dead world until we bring her home to you, and no ghosts of the dead will stop us,” he finishes.

My breath catches when his words crash through me. Fierce, protective, but wrapped in such tenderness, it leaves me aching. Something I never thought I could feel from another person.

He’s the one breaking tonight, and still, he’s promising me the world.

“You three…” My voice wavers. “You’re the first decent men I’ve met in years. II don’t know how I ended up with three of you being too damn stubborn to leave.”

He pulls back and gives me a real smile this time. It’s the first genuine smile I’ve seen on him.

He brushes a strand of hair behind my ears and looks at me in a way that makes my belly flutter to life. “Well, it’s hard to walk away from a pretty girl who steals socks from unconscious strangers, throws homemade explosives at rotters while running around a rot zone injured, and still follows a broken man alone in the dark to chase away his demons.”

“You’re not broken, Cas.”

His fingers thread through my hair before resting on my shoulder. “And you’re stronger than you think.”

My heart stutters and my breath shivers.

He leans in, and before I know it, his lips brush mine, soft and hesitant. A kiss full of question and hope.

I melt into him, answering with my own. His mouth moves gently against mine, and warmth floods through me, chasing away the chill.

When his tongue teases at the seam of my lips, I let him in, deepening the kiss. It’s soft, reverent, and over too soon.

When he pulls back, his eyes search mine with a sheepish look. My cheeks heat along with the rest of my body.

“Was that okay?” he asks.

I smile and lean in to kiss him again, slower this time. “That was great, Cas.” Then my brain catches up and focuses on a specific detail from our conversation. “Wait, you said I was pretty?”

A laugh bubbles out of him, real and warm. It lights his whole face, and I know I want to hear it again.

He pulls me close, crushing me to his chest in a way that feels both safe and strong. I don’t fight it. I let myself sink into his warmth. And somewhere in the middle of it all, I realize…I’ve been so focused on chasing their smiles and laughter, I almost didn’t notice when mine started coming back.

The thought hits me hard enough to spin the world for a moment.

In the end, it’s simple. The calming thrum of Caspian’s heart beneath my cheek, the heat of his skin, and the strength of his arms…they anchor me.

And wrapped in them, I finally let myself drift to sleep.

11

CASPIAN

Inever liked the dark.

Not because of what hides inside it, but because of what it brings. What it summons from inside me. Ghosts. Whispers. Memories that refuse to stay buried.

But tonight, the dark doesn’t claw at me like it usually does.

Because of her. Because she’s here.

With Autumn asleep in my arms, the darkness isn’t the enemy. In fact, it’s quiet for once.