Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (91)

I put myself in her shoes. Maybe for the first time. I’d gotten glimmers before, but now I really let myself feel it. “I’m so sorry you went through that,” I croaked. “I’d do anything to change it.”

Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry you went through that. And I’d do anything to change it.”

And that was the crux of it. We’d both been irrevocably changed by what had happened, just marked in different ways. We had our own healing journeys to go on, but we could also help each other.

I wanted to grab Brae’s hand, to squeeze it the way I had countless times before. But I wasn’t quite brave enough. Not yet. But maybe soon. “I’m so grateful you’re my bestest bestie.”

She sent me a wobbly smile as she fished something out of her pocket. “I’m so grateful you’re mine. Think we could make that official?”

I frowned. “If you want to do some blood-brothers pact, you know that’s not for me.”

She laughed. “No slicing palms required.” She held out a friendship bracelet. “I know Sky made you some bracelets, but I thought I could, too. It could”—she swallowed—“it could replace the one you lost.”

Brae meant the one that had been found in the graves of Travis’s other victims. The item that had convinced everyone but Kol that I was gone.

This was like a new beginning. A fresh start. But also, a reclaiming. “I’d love that,” I whispered.

My hand trembled as I held it out, but Brae was careful not to touch me as she tied the yarn bracelet around my wrist.

I stared down at the colorful string. “It’s perfect. Thank you. For everything.”

Brae met my gaze and didn’t look away. “Thank you.”

Every part of the moment felt like a step toward healing—for both of us.





CHAPTER FORTY


Kol




ISTOOD ON THE BACK DECK, WATCHING AS A FULLY KITTED-out Skylar and Owen played some battle game where Tink and Pepper were their fellow soldiers. Sky had put fairy wings and a superhero mask on the mini-Highland cow and somehow affixed a tiara to the goat’s head and a cape to her back.

Skylar herself wore a feather boa, a cape, and goggles, and she carried a Nerf gun. Owen had a mask beneath his glasses, a crown, another cape, and a Nerf gun. The image of it was completely ridiculous and the only thing that might be comforting in the moment.

Their innocence amid all the pain that circled our family … we had to hold on to it. Make the world a better place for them.

But all I could think about was Nova. Up in my room. Ever tending to her wounds. I was scared as hell for her on every level. Her heart, her mind, her soul. And that didn’t touch her physical safety. Because we still hadn’t found Heidi Ingram or who’d left her bloody necklace on Nova’s car.

I forced myself to let out a breath, nice and slow. I needed to get myself together before I went back up there. When I reached the kitchen, Brae had already been hard at work making Nova a snack while Waylon was preparing a pot of chili and biscuits for everyone.

Family showed up. At least, the one we’d managed to cobble together. And they all loved Nova. Wanted to be there for her.

“Do you want to punch me again?”

I glanced over at Maverick as he moved in beside me, hands in his pockets. I winced. The bruise looked worse already. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

Violence wasn’t something I reached for unless it was unavoidable. And I sure as hell didn’t use it on my brothers outside of our version of shit-talking.

“I deserved it.” Mav’s focus lifted to my bedroom window.

My jaw worked back and forth. It was both Mav’s fault and it wasn’t. And I didn’t know how to put that into words.

“She’s more fragile than I realized,” he went on softly. “I should’ve seen it, but I didn’t. Regardless, I should’ve been more careful, especially given everything that’s going on.”

The reminder of the missing woman and the notes churned in my gut, but I wouldn’t pile on more when Mav already knew he’d messed up. “Nova covers well,” I said. “But we can’t forget what she’s been through.”

He nodded slowly. “You two …”

The words hung in the air.

“I care about her.” God, those words felt like a lie. Because some part of me had fallen for Nova the moment I saw her fighting to stay when it would’ve been so easy to give up. And that falling had only dug itself deeper and deeper the more I got to know her.

Wylder appeared on my other side, moving silently but clearly having taken in the exchange between Mav and me. He studied me for a long moment. It was the kind of assessment that had me squirming.

“Just say whatever you’re thinking,” I grumbled.

“Are you sure it’s smart? You two have a trauma bond. If it’s that and nothing more, it could cause a lot of damage. To her”—his gaze flicked to Skylar, who was rolling in the grass with Tink—“and to you.”

My back teeth ground together until my jaw ached. “First, when Nova cut me off, she still saw Sky all the time. She’d never bail on my kid because this wasn’t working between the two of us.”

Wylder opened his mouth to argue, but I kept right on going.