The confession changed everything. Declan found her in the garden the next morning and did not speak at first. He simply crossed the lawn, took her in his arms, and held her as if she were the last good thing in the world. 'I love you,' he said, low and raw. 'I love you, and I have loved you since before I understood what I was feeling. You are the only good thing that has ever happened to me, and I will not let the world take you from me.'
Makayla let the tears come, and then she kissed him — the first real kiss, soft and certain. When they pulled apart, his heart on his face, she said, 'Then we will face it together, Declan. Whatever comes. We will face it together.'
It changed everything, and it changed nothing. The world was still full of enemies, and Valerie was not the kind of woma
