Those few words were like a bomb dropped in his gut. The trembling inside him grew worse. He slipped down the wall, the world narrowing. All the conflict inside him flared for a breath, then collapsed like a dying star into a burning, dense ember. He went cold and hollow everywhere else.
Seichan followed him down, grasping his cheeks in both of her hot palms, holding him and staring into his face, inches away. She had read the message, too.
Her words gave voice to what was inside him. "I will help you. I will do whatever it takes to hunt them down."
He stared into the emerald of her eyes, flecked with gold. Her palms burned on his cheeks. Their heat spread into those cold empty places inside him. He reached to her face and pulled her closer, narrowing the distance between them until their lips touched.
He kissed her, needing her.
She resisted at first, her lips tense, hard, unsure.
Then they slowly softened, releasing, parting.
Each of them needed the other.
But was this real-or just a necessary delusion for the moment?
In the end, Gray didn't care.
It was real enough for now.