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She jerked back, peering up into his face "A ht in her chest "That one’s a joke I think" His hands framed her face, and he watched her with so ht melt beneath it "Do you have any idea howat his words, tears pricking her eyes "I think I do Maybe almost as much as I love you But I al me scares me, Hawke What if I turn into the ene to turn into the ene you if I tried There’s so , you’re sweet Your shts me up inside like a dozen suns, and your kiss turns me to putty You’re worth every risk Any risk"

She was stunned by his words, humbled And deeply ht it would consu into her hair, his lips lingering, brushing over hers, the touch sparking an instant fire inside her He groaned, sliding his tongue into her ht against hi to be a valuableI do, I’ to see to that You’ll have a purpose here A home No matter what happens"

She pulled back to stare up into his face "What do you mean, ’no matter what happens’?"

A shadow passed over his features, his eyes troubled "Nothing" He tried to kiss her, to end the discussion, but she turned her cheek, avoiding hied "Nothing I justI don’t knohat the spirit trap did toworse"

"You’re supposed to be getting better You’re ination crossed his face

"No, Hawke You can’t tell ive up yourself While you’re finding a cure forto you, too?"

His "

"Then try so else," she snapped, then covered her er cruentle eyes "I just found you I don’t want to lose you" Her voice cracked on the last

He wrapped his ar her close within the shadows of the trees The scent of flowers and new grass, of spring’s rich pro somehow, in direct counterpoint to their talk of death and loss

"Even if the worst happens, you won’t be alone this time, Smiley"

"I haven’t been that alone"

"No?" He peered down at her "Have you lived with an enclave since you lost your own? Have you ever lived with anyone other than the occasional street kid who needed a place to sleep for a while?"

She shrugged "I’m fine that way"

"No You’re not I can see the loneliness in your eyes" He stroked her hair "Why didn’t you go with your enclave that day when the warning cae was about to be attacked?"

"It was a long tio, Hawke"

"I want to knohat happened It’s part of who you are"

She pulled away, turning to look out over the woods, reluctant to go back there, to that tihso little had actually happened When he pulled her back against hi up at the canopy above, and told hiium early in the First World War One of the Therians in our enclave was particularly gifted at clouding thethe infor and ca an ie where we lived The Therian raced back to warn the enclave My best friend, a human, lived in that town It was her father who used to call me Smiley He’d shown me more patience and kindness than anyone in my enclave, and I’d often pretended he was ive me an hour so that I could warn them, but he said no I went anyway"

"They didn’t wait" Hawke’s tone as his chin settled on her croas heavy with understanding

"No On some level, I think I’d known they wouldn’t In ood riddance, but" She shook her head The horrors of the attack and the days that folloere soet

"Were you able to save your friends?"

"No As much as they cared forThey didn’t leave in time"

"I’ her fir her back in the here and now "Your leader should be staked and left for the draden for leaving a fifteen-year-old child behind"

She curled her fingers lightly around his forearm as she tilted her head forward and pressed a kiss to his bare skin "He did what he had to do to ensure the safety of the enclave"

"He could have left someone to wait for you"

"That wasn’t his way He was a rigidThey all were"

"You had parents a them?"

"Technically My mother had little to do with me And she neither knew nor cared which of the males was my father"

"Others raised you"

"Others fed ed "I’d intended to leave thee, anyway Circumstances left roaned "It shouldn’t have happened, Faith You were their responsibility"

"They were cold people, Hawke They cared for no one and nothing but themselves I didn’t understand that at the time It took years"

"But you care About others"

"Yes Huile and don’t last long, but the hearts and minds and souls that inhabit them are the same as ours To believe we’re better than theer, yes But we should use that strength to help them Not use them to help ourselves"