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I turn just in time for a blur of curls and fury to slam into me.

Lillian. Breathless. Tear-streaked. Hands fisted in my sweater like it’s the only thing holding her together.

“You can’t leave!” she yells. “You’re not allowed!”

“Lil—”

“No! You don’t get to go! I didn’t even get to say goodbye!”

My heart splinters. “Kid, I wasn’t?—”

“You were! I saw the bag! I saw you talking to the portal!”

“I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about leaving me!” she sobs.

I drop to my knees and pull her close. She’s shaking like a leaf in the wind, and all I can do is hold her and hate myself.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I whisper. “I just… didn’t know if I was still wanted.”

“You are. You’re wanted. You’re mine!”

I laugh, but it breaks. “I don’t get to stay just because I want to. It has to be right. For the camp. For your dad.”

“He’s dumb,” she mutters. “He thinks too much and talks too little.”

“I’ve noticed.”

She pulls back. “Did he even tell you how he feels?”

I shake my head.

“Well, I will. I love you. Like, for real. Not fake camp love. Real love.”

I hug her tighter. “I love you too.”

She wipes her nose on my sleeve. “So that means you can’t leave.”

“It means… I’m not sure what happens next.”

“You stay. That’s what happens.”

I wish it were that simple.

But maybe… maybe it is.

“Just one more day!” she pleads. “No one else is waiting for that cabin. Please?! Just one more?”

I sigh. How can I say no to that?

CHAPTER 27

TORACK

Iwake before the sun.

The camp's still wrapped in that half-silence that only comes just before dawn—too late for dreams, too early for duties.