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"Then what?" she countered hotly "Twentyfor Vince and Ackmeyer before you’re toast? It’s suicidal and you know it"

He scoffed, even though she was right "You got a better idea?"

"Yeah I’ll go after them If I don’t find Vince h every rebel piece of shit in the city until soh "Forget it This is my mess to clean up, not yours You’re not a part of it, Mira And I’ll walk into the sun itself before I put you in the middle of this shit"

If he’d had any kind of honor, he would have done that eight years ago, ensuring that he’d never have the chance to hurt her the way her vision showed him he would But he hadn’t been able to cut himself off from Mira, not totally He’d stayed close, closer than ise He should have put continents between theain

But he hadn’t done any of those things

Even now, it was nearly i out to touch her He crossed his ared scowl proved almost too much to resist

"You bastard" Mira drew in a breath, then pushed it out on a sharp exhalation "God, you are still the headedto stand there and tell me I’m not a part of this - that you would rather kill yourself than let me into your world - when you just had your cock inside s I was alh to believe - "

Kellan cursed "II said Every word, Mira But that was before"

She gaped, stricken and breathing hard "Before what?"

"Before everything that went down in that cell back there," Kellan replied "Before what happened with Vince just now re to work It can’t work"

He uncrossed his arure a way off the path that fate seemed determined to place hi with Jeremy Ackmeyer in tow had all but made sure of that fact

"Whatever happens nohatever Vince ends up doing with Ackmeyer, I want you out of it To anyone outside this bunker, you’re stillI’ve done I intend to keep it that way I won’t have you jeopardizing your future, thinking you can helpto allow it"

Her slender blond broered even farther over her flashing eyes "That’s not your decision to make I don’t need your peret to decide what’s important to me"

God help him, but it didn’t take irl who’d told hiain when he’d been a withdrawn, stupid teen who didn’t kno to accept her friendship, let alone her love By sheer force of will, she’d er over his family’s annihilation had all but crippled hiirl, Mira had held his hand and led him out of a dark place As a woman, she’d held his heart, despite his efforts to protect hi for someone he could never bear to lose

Now he only hoped he’d find the strength to push Mira ahen all he wanted was to pull her close and never let her go

He kept his voice quiet, the words as gentle as he could h I couldn’t stay away froh I knew damn here this would take us in the end" He lowered his head and held her searching gaze, needing her to hear hio down, I’ll be daone utterly still in front of him She didn’t blink, barely drew breath "What do you mean, you knehere this would take us in the end?"

Kellan stared into her eyes, those muted mirrors that had cursed hio Now they looked up at hi for a truth he hoped she’d never need to hear

"Tell er was gone now, replaced with a gravity - a tangible dread - that caught his heart in a stranglehold "What did you mean by that, Kellan?" She spoke hardly above a whisper, hardly breathing, for all he could discern "Tell me what you know, damn it"

He reached for her, but she flinched away fro his "Tellout of hi before the warehouse explosion"

"We made love," she ht too," she said, filling in the blanks when his voice seemed to desert him "For the first time"

He nodded "The first tiht of ain, that night eight years ago and theI woke up next to you were the best ot the chance to tell you that I should’ve said the words then, but I didn’t know"

She sed, her delicate throat visibly clenching "You didn’t knohat?"

"That it was all going to end that night I didn’t know I’d be leaving you so soon I thought I would have tihtI prayed we’d be able to sort it all out, find a way - soht"

"I don’t knohat you’re saying, Kellan" She scowled even deeper now, and despite her denial that she understood, he could see in her eyes that realization was settling in hard the longer she looked at hi? Did I say so wrong" He cupped her jaw in his hand and sI could’ve wanted More than I ever deserved"

"But you left me," she said quietly "Why, Kellan? The truth this ti bad enough toyou were dead in that explosion"

"Ah, Mouse," hehis hand travel up fro at her temple He stroked the tiny teardrop-and-crescent-moon birthmark, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to each of her eyelids When he drew back fro in her eyes "You see? You would be happier if I’d died that night And I would rather have left youfor my life as the traitor I was destined to become"

Her hands ca?"