Page 103 of Breaking Isolde

He rolls to face me, green eyes wide open. “If I do, you run. I don’t care where. Just survive.”

I press my forehead to his. “If you die, I’ll die with you.”

He laughs, softer than I’ve ever heard, nipping at my chin. “You’re relentless. Can’t even let a dead man rest.”

“So are you,” I say. “That’s why this works.”

He runs his thumb across my cheek, and for a second, I want to cry. I don’t. I just blink it away, swallow the ache, and promise myself that someday, I’ll let it out.

Maybe after we win.

I sit up, still naked, and pad to the window. The glass is cold against my palm. In the distance, I see the shadow of the library where I first realized I wasn’t a victim. Where I first learned that you can make your own luck, if you’re desperate enough.

Rhett comes up behind me, wraps his arms around my waist. He rests his chin on my shoulder, and together we watch the night settle over the campus.

He whispers, “We’re going to do it. We’re going to end the corruption. No one deserves this much power over the people.”

I don’t answer, but I believe him.

Because that’s what love is, I guess—a leap into the dark, hoping there’s something solid to land on.

We stand there, silent, bodies pressed together, both of us waiting.

For what, I don’t know but we hold our breath, all the same.

I think about Casey. I think about all the girls who never got this far, who never made it out of the Hunt, who never got to see the system break. I think about the future, and what it will take to get there.

Sometimes, the monster you fear is the one who saves you.

I lean into Rhett’s arms and close my eyes.

“I’ll love you until the day I draw my last breath.”

He holds me, staring at my reflection in the window, “And I’ll love you beyond the grave, my little wildcat.”