Page 84 of Guarded Knight

Just then, her cell beeps and her breath hitches.

Right there on the lock screen is a reply. I lean over to see a text from Cameron.

CAMERON

I WILL TRY TO GET THERAPY OR SOMETHING. BUT FIRST, CAN WE PLEASE TALK? I JUST NEED SOME CLOSURE. TO EXPLAIN MYSELF. THERE’S A FLIGHT AT NOON. I CAN BE THERE TONIGHT. TAKE YOU OUT FOR DINNER?

One of the what-ifs in our mission just got more certain. There’s only one art retreat in Echo Valley, and Arthur has multiple social media pages with the address to the cabin on them. Cameron won’t struggle to find out where Arthur’s cabin is.

I smooth my fingers down her back. “Like I said, you nailed it.”

Her face scrunches like she doesn’t agree, and her gaze focuses on my tattoo. She smooths her fingers over the letters.

The meaning of it hasn’t faded. Lay down your life for your friends. It’s how I’ve always lived. But Lara tracing it now reminds me there’s a difference between dying for someone and living for them. Between being a weapon and being a man.

And her touch, right there?

It’s the only thing that makes me feel like I’m still a man underneath the armor.

“I trust you,” she whispers.

“Trust me to tear the world in half.”

She lets out a soft laugh. “I think I need to take my own advice. I need therapy.”

“Why’s that?”

With one hand I cradle her jaw. The other anchors her hip like I’m afraid she’ll disappear. Maybe she will. This might be our last morning like this.

“How can I want Cameron to get help,” she breathes, “and still want you to be the one to end him?”

“It’s called being human.” I kiss her temple. “It’s complicated.”

“Sure is.”

“I got you, Lara. I’ll do the ugly stuff so you can stay beautiful.”

She gives me a sideways grin. “Just how it’s always been.”

Nostalgia fills the room. And my heart.

And then, my cell beeps on her bedside table.

ANTON

I’M IN THE TRUCK.

I want her to stay in my arms forever, but it’s time to move. The warmth of her body is everything I’ve ever wanted, and yet the thing I have to walk away from if I’m going to protect it.

I ease out from beneath her, press one last kiss to her temple, and force myself to stand. Her hand slides across the sheets in search of me, but I’m already halfway to dressed.

She watches me through heavy eyelids and curls back up beneath the covers.

I pause at the door. Just long enough to glance back.

The bed’s a wreck. Sheets twisted from sleep and sex and something that felt dangerously close to peace. And it guts me because I know I won’t be crawling back into it.

This is the last quiet moment we’ll get.