Her name dropped from his mouth like a memory.
Not loud. Not commanding. Just… real.
Katherine froze, her entire body stiffening the second she heard it. Her hand was still lightly caught in his, but she wasn’t looking at him anymore—she was looking through him, like she was trying to figure out whether this was some sick trick of her tired mind. Like if she stared hard enough, he would blur away into someone else.
But he didn’t.
He was still standing there—Kingsley. A little older than the last time she saw him, maybe, a little more worn around the eyes. His hair was longer, not so perfectly combed back as it once was. He had on a plain gray pullover and dark pants, something unusually… normal. Stripped of polish. And still, it was unmistakably him.
Katherine yanked her hand back lik
