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‘All you’re doing,’ she murmured, ‘is denying the other half of yourself.’

He let out a harsh breath, glancing away, his gaze fixed on the distant flicker of bioluminescent fireflies hovering near the undergrowth.

She made it sound so simple.

As if embracing the past, accepting his former pain, was just a matter of flipping a switch.

‘It’s not that easy,’ he muttered.

‘Nada,’ she agreed, stepping closer, the warmth of her body brushing against his. ‘It never is.’

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The jungle whispered around them, the hum of unseen creatures filling the silence.

Then, Issa sighed, shaking her head. ‘You ever get tired, Sable?’

He frowned, caught off guard. ‘Weary of what?’

‘Of carrying the burden of rejecting and running from your true, whole self?’

Ki’Remi stilled.

He swallowed, something in his chest twisting.

He had never run. He had endured. He had survived, but perhaps there wasn’t a difference anymore.

The worst part?

He didn’t have an answer for her.

She reached out, brushing her fingers along his jaw, the connection feather-light. ‘One day, you’ll have to stop running and believe in miracles.’

Ki’Remi hit his threshold of what he was able to tolerate.

‘Enough,’ he growled, cutting her off, jerking his chin from her silken touch.

She arched a brow, waiting.

His tone was cold, final. ‘Wacha. Stop. Keep your phenomena to yourself.’

Then he shut her out, clamped his lips tight, and pushed the conversation from his mind.

He stormed away from her, the underbrush shivering in his charge.

He sensed her follow in his wake while he focused on the jungle, the path ahead, the mission.

Or at least, that’s what he tried to do.

However, his mind refused to obey.

What she said, what she did, hell, it was all rousing shit within him.

He felt the stirrings reach into his psyche, searing past the walls of his shut-off soul.

The tendrils of her words wound through his memories, not just those from his younger existence.

From a litany of lives lived well before him.

From the wellspring of bygone recollections and buried whispers.