He trembled.
“I thought she took you from me,” he said, his voice cracking. “I felt it, Lyra. I felt it.”
I knelt with him, dragging him down with me, pressing my lips to his temple, rocking with him on the floor like we were the only two people who existed.
“I’m always yours,” I whispered into his skin, my lips barely brushing the side of his face, and for the first time since this whole thing started, I felt him exhale.
Not like he was calming down—but like he was finally breathing again. Like the beast inside him had stepped back, and the man I loved was holding me instead.
His arms stayed around me. His face stayed buried against my stomach like he didn’t trust the world enough to lift his head yet. And I stayed there, stroking his hair, holding him together even as my own body w
