Page 170 of The Truths We Burn

“You did what you had to do,” I reassure her, furrowing my eyebrows. “You don’t need to make any apologies for doing what you need to in order to survive, Lyra.”

“I’m not. It’s not something I’m sorry for. I was just surprised…” She takes a breath. “How easy it was.”

Lyra had always depicted herself as the shy bug nerd who enjoyed her life of invisibility. She was a ghost, and to everyone else, that was it. Floating around, hovering, blending in.

But I was starting to gather that was only what she wanted people to think.

“I can’t believe Pierson hasn’t even thanked you for it,” Briar huffs, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I get it, he’s a little fucked in the head, but it’s not hard to say, ‘Hey, thanks for saving my life.’”

“It’s Thatcher. He has no emotion. It would have been weird if he did say thank you,” I say with a laugh, having this weird moment of happiness even though I’m standing above my father’s grave.

“He does,” Lyra says, rocking on her heels a bit. “Death has a heart when it takes those who are suffering or the ones who are bad. If death has emotions, then so does he.”

There is a silence that falls for a moment.

“Well, he’s still an asshole,” Briar mumbles below her breath, and all of us do something that feels so foreign but so good.

We laugh.

It’s odd that one of my only real laughs happens while I’m standing above my father’s grave. But that’s what our friendship is.

Happiness even in moments of darkness.

I twirl the flower in my fingers, the one I’m supposed to drop inside of his grave, but instead, I walk a few steps to the right, standing in front of Rose’s grave, looking at her tombstone. I drag my fingers across the top and sigh.

Through everything, the only thing that had stayed constant was my desire for Rosie to be here. There was so much I wanted to tell her, so many things I never got to say. Lyra was right—death can be merciful, but it’s also cold.

It takes the ones we aren’t ready to lose with no compassion.

Gently, I lay the white rose on top of her tombstone because the other grave doesn’t deserve it.

Fingers lace with my own, and I don’t bother pulling away because I know that touch. Our skin melts together like clay, molding into one cohesive piece of art.

“Rose knew you liked me,” I say, turning to look at Rook’s handsome face.

“You told her about us?” His eyebrows furrow, and pain strikes my gut.

“No, I never…” I bite my bottom lip. “I never got the chance to tell her. I thought I would have more time.”

I hate that I thought I had more time. That she never knew how I felt about him. The man who’d brought the old Sage back to life and gave purpose to a new one.

“But she knew you liked me. After that day at Tilly’s, she said you don’t show interest in things that don’t excite you. I think she knew before we did.”I look at her tombstone. “She was good at knowing what people needed before they realized it themselves.”

“Yeah, she was,” he breathes, giving my hand a tight squeeze.

We stand there and I can feel him remembering her, just like I am. We bask in her memory, letting her light cover us in a second of happiness. I know she wouldn’t be angry at me for what happened to Silas, but I do know she would want me to be there for him.

Which I plan to do, come hell or high water.

Silas Hawthorne will not die a sad man.

She would not have wanted him to be alone for the rest of his life, and as perfect as they were together, I knew there was someone out there that could love him, just as Rosie had. I would make sure, no matter what, her request was met.

That no matter what, even if it’s without her, he will be happy.

“What about all those missing girls, Rook? We can’t just sit here with all we know, and not do something. They are just going to keep taking them. Girls just like Rose, stolen from their lives.” I breathe, imagining just how many families would never be able to find peace until their daughters were found.

“We are going to do something. We just need to figure out who we can trust, TG. When we do that, we will come clean about all we know.”