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"That's a good plan," Mairi murmured.

"You would think so, right?" The girl's smile was pained. "But when I tried to tell him the truth, he saidit didn't matter." Blue eyes filled with innocent entreaty turned to Mairi. "What do you think he meant by that?"

Mairi's lips parted, but no sound came out. Pippi's question might seemed simple and straightforward to anyone hearing it, but they both knew that what the girl was asking for without the words was something entirely.

Help me believe there's still hope.

Please.

Please.

The silence stretched between them, ruthless and unbroken, and Pippi could feel herself cracking under its weight.

It seemed anything could break her these days.

She felt her hands start to tremble and quickly hid them under the table. She tried to smile but stopped when she felt her face start to crack as well. In the end, all she could do was look at Mairi.

Please say something. Please. Please. Please.

Mairi's eyes started to sting, and when she saw Pippi's own eyes begin to shine, it became harder to hold back her own tears.

Her silence was her answer, and Pippi heard it loud and clear.

"I'm sorry," Mairi whispered.

Pippi shook her head. "It's not your fault."

It was no one's fault.

Not even Acheron's.

Because all he promised was that he would keep her from taking any risks.

And he had kept his word.

But he never promised not to hurt her.

****

SHE WAS CALLING HIM.

The world had turned upside down in recent days, and things were no longer how they used to be. These days, it was Pippi calling him first now, Pippi seeking his company, Pippi saying that shemissedhim.

And he missed her, too, goddammit, but how could he be with her, knowing that its inevitable end was to see her ruined?

His phone had gone silent, but only a few moments had passed before it started ringing again.

It was Pippi, not giving up on him when she should never even have given him the time of the day.

Amelia's words that night had never left him, and every time he closed his eyes, the nightmares that came to him were one and the same. He would dream of the times Amelia had played him like a fool, and somehow the scene would change, and it would be Acheron making a fool of Pippi. He would dream of Millicent Longbourn, alone and broken because of him, and somehow Millicent, too, would transform into Pippi.

Maybe it was just paranoia, but what if it wasn't?

He had seen how being with him had made such a fucking mess of Millie's life, and he had never forgiven himself for it.

His phone started ringing for the third time, and Acheron drove his fist into the wall in a futile attempt to distract himself with the pain.

Why had he made himself forget about what happened to Millie?