Page 48 of The Hollowed

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said quietly, turning just enough to meet her gaze. His eyes softened, stripped of their anger now. “Don’t think for a second that I don’t believe in you. I always have, Luci, and I always will.”

Her throat tightened, and she had to look away, afraid that her expression might show just how much those words meant to her.

He pressed on. “It’s just…The thought of losing you is excruciating, but I know better than anyone how strong you are. You don’t need me to believe in you, but I do. With everything I’ve got.”

Luci turned to look at him. Others had said the same before, but she could see that no one had meant it as much as he didnow.

“I know I’ve said it before, back when we were just friends,” he whispered, “but I need you to hear it now, for what it really is. I love you, Luci, more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”

For a moment, Luci couldn’t breathe. His words wrapped around her in a way she hadn’t been prepared for, yet deep down had always wanted.

“I love you too,” she whispered, the admission spilling out as natural as breathing. Her lips curved, and when a smile broke across his face, she felt her heart twist in the most beautiful way.

For a few seconds, they just looked at each other, the silence was thick but no longer heavy. Instead it was charged with something that felt almost sacred.

Then Luci gave a soft laugh, nudging him like she was breaking the trance “Alright, Romeo,” she teased, lifting her brows toward the road ahead, “you’d better start driving if we want to get there by tomorrow.”

Alex laughed and shook his head but was unable to wipe the grin from his face as he shifted the RV back into gear. Still, his hand lingered near hers on the console for just a moment longer than necessary, as though he couldn’t quite bear to let the moment go. And honestly, neither could she.

Many hours later, they stopped to let Luna out one last time before settling down for the night after crossing into New Mexico. They had taken turns driving, but Luci was more than happy to accept the reprieve. Navigating through ruined highways and destroyed cities wasn’t nearly as effortless as it looked. Each stretch of road held its own challenge, but bysome miracle, they’d made it farther than expected. Still, the constant sight of the infected weighed on her. Each glimpse was a reminder of what their world had become, and more than once she’d caught herself imagining what life might have been like if it had all remained untouched.

If her brother had returned from work that day. If Danielle had returned her messages…

Even as she wondered, a part of her didn’t wish for any other version of events. She had known Alex before only in passing — brief words exchanged in hallways. It was the outbreak that had carved out space for something greater. Deep down, she’d suspected their connection had always been there like a fever waiting to bloom.

As she stood under the heat of the desert, her mind drifted back to a night in the Pathology lab. She had been hunched over a microscope, chasing clarity in a sample that refused to cooperate when the door had opened, Grayson and Cipher had arrived for one of their routine security checks. Grayson, however, lingered longer than usual, watching her scribble notes before clearing his throat.

“Have you ever been to that bar across the hospital?” he asked casually as he leaned against the doorframe.

The question startled her enough for her to glance up. The guards rarely acknowledged her beyond simple greetings. “Uh…no,” she said carefully, lowering her pen. “It’s not really my scene.”

Grayson smirked, as though that were the answer he’d expected. Then, almost offhandly, he added, “Well you should come tonight…I know someone would be real happy if you did.”

The way he said it stuck with her long after he left. At the time, she had shaken her head and dismissed it as one of his usual jokes. But now, in hindsight, she realized he hadn’t been talkingabout himself.

He’d been talking about Alex.

Maybe that had been the first spark of confirmation that what she’d sensed wasn’t only in her imagination.

“Luci?” Alex called, pulling her back into the present and cutting through the blur of her thoughts and memories.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, blinking as though she had just woken up. “What were you saying?”

Alex chuckled softly as he closed the space between them. He reached up and let his fingers brush a stray curl from her cheek before he tucked it behind her ear. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” he asked as his eyes searched her face for an answer.

Luci’s lips pulled into a smile, but she couldn’t help but glance away. The truth wasn’t simple. Her mind hadn’t been quiet in months and the thought of saying Grayson’s name out loud felt dangerous at the moment. If she could go back, she would have insisted they all receive a dose of the vaccine before they left the hospital. But there had been no way of knowing what would happen, no way of preparing for the weight of that regret.

“Nothing,” she lied softly, forcing herself to sound normal.“It’s just been a long day, and tomorrow will be longer.”

Alex tilted his head and studied her patiently. The gesture was small, but the intent behind it made it clear that he was listening and weighing her silence as much as her words. In his eyes she saw the urge to press and make her say what she was holding back. But after a long silence, he let it go.

“I know,” he responded, brushing his thumb along her cheek. The gentleness of his touch contrasted the heaviness in his tone. “That’s why I think we need a backup plan.”

Luci’s brows knit together as her chest tightened with confusion. “You don’t think the plan we already have is enough?”

Truthfully, she couldn’t imagine trusting anyone more than Alex when it came to these things. He’d been with Prometheus as long as she had and if there was one thing the Collective excelled at, it was drilling their people until every last one of them was an expert in their field.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” he admitted, though she could hear the hesitation in his tone. His jaw flexed before he finally spoke again, softer this time. “It’s just…I know from experience that Prometheus is capable of some pretty terrible things.”