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Shit.

Moving fast, I spin into a roundhouse kick that catches the rotter’s neck with enough force to snap its vertebrae. Its charred corpse crumples in a heap, fire still licking at its limbs. Jace remains frozen in place.

I yank off my shirt and beat out the flames until all that’s left is a smoking pile of charred flesh and bones. I turn to face Jace. “What the hell was that?”

He doesn’t answer right away, unable to tear his gazefrom the blackened mess. When he speaks, his voice is rough. “Do you remember my adopted father?”

I blink, confused, then the memory slams back.

Malcolm. The man who meant everything to Jace. The one who chose him when the rest of the world turned its back. His father in every way that mattered. Until the colony fell under the grip of a maniac.

Until Eugene, the maniac leader, a bastard with enough cruelty to rival the ones who created this damn virus, burned Malcolm alive to teach Jace a lesson. A brutal reminder that loyalty could be twisted. That getting too close to anyone came at a price. A lesson that broke Jace in ways no fists ever could.

Fuck. How could I forget?

I let out a slow exhale. “Yeah. I remember.”

Jace’s voice drops. “He died because of me. Because Eugene couldn’t stand connections. He said it made us weak.”

He looks straight at me then, defeat evident in the lines of his face, something I’ve never seen from him before.

“Someone I cared about was ripped away from me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.” His voice cracks, and his Adam’s Apple bobs. “But finding Autumn’s sister? That’s something I can still do. That’s something I won’t fail at, because she doesn’t have to suffer the same fate if I can help it.”

“So, now you think letting Autumn in means she’s a target?” Everything makes so much more sense now. He’s not a total asshole. He’s an asshole with a charred heart.

His jaw clenches. He doesn’t deny it.

I take another step closer. “Eugene’s gone, and no one left in this hellscape cares enough to torment you with that kind of cruelty. No one’s taking Autumn from you, Jace. Not me, not Caspian. No one’s taking her from any of us. That’s a choice only she can make herself.”

Finally, something inside him cracks. And this time, I see it.

Night falls harder than expected.When Jace and I finally make it back to camp after our fight, I see Autumn curled up. Even with the fire and Luna’s warmth pressed to her side, she still shivers, and something tightens in my chest.

I don’t think it. I just move.

Crossing to her side, I settle behind her and wrap my arm around her body, pulling her against my bare chest. She startles, and her muscles tense beneath my touch. “What are you?—?”

“I figured we’d save time and share,” I murmur, my arm tightening around her middle. “Body heat. Efficiency. Avoid another rotter slumber party.”

“Efficiency,” she repeats in that flat tone, but I catch the slight tremor in her voice.

I press my lips to the back of her neck and smirk. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite.”

There’s a beat between us that’s charged with something electric.

“…Unless you want me to.”

She makes a noise halfway between a laugh and a scandalized gasp. “Your entire existence is inappropriate.”

And yet, she still lets me in. God, I love her fire.

My breath brushes her ear when I lean in closer. “And yet, here you are.”

She turns her head to look at me and the firelight dances across her face. “Here I am.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whisper.

Luna yawns wide and moves a couple of feet away to give us some privacy. I tuck a stray strand of purple hair behind Autumn’s ear, and her head leans into my touch.Firelight flickers shadows across her collarbone. Her pulse flutters against my thumb that’s resting at the side of her neck.