My mind races forward to me laying her down on the Forest floor, spending hours exploring every inch of her body. For a moment I see what we could have had: Laia and her books and patients, and me and a school that taught more than death and duty. A little one with gold eyes and glowing brown skin. The white in Laia’s hair one day, and the way her eyes will mellow and deepen and grow wiser. “You are cruel, Elias,� she whispers against my mouth. “To give a girl all she desires only to tear it away.� “This isn’t the end for us, Laia of Serra.� I cannot give up what we could have. I don’t care
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