“That’s exactly what strength is, baby girl. Holding it together when everything wants to fall apart.” She tugs at my hand, pulling me closer. “Vincent is darkness, yes. But he’s also something else entirely when he looks at you and Sofiya. And that something else… it’s worth fighting for.”
“Even if it means living in his world? With all its violence and danger?”
“Even then.” She licks her dry lips. “Because the alternative is living half a life, the way I did after I left Grigor. Always looking over my shoulder, always wondering what might have been.”
A sob escapes me before I can swallow it back. “I’m scared, Mom. You’re going, and Sofi is—is— She’s just so perfect, Mom, and I love him, too; I love him so much it blinds me to what we’re becoming.”
“Oh, Rowan.” Her frail hand cups my
