And that was the final piece, wasn’t it? If Toria never made it home, she lived out her life and died here. Saving KJ wasn’t about the future, because Kane would fade away and die without her. This was about saving the past, giving Kane a chance to exist in the first place.
But Victory would be stuck here as a shadow of herself. Her mom had been so supportive when Toria knew she had to be desperate to make it home to Dad. And she’d been too damned selfish to even ask. Guilt curdled her stomach. “No. But I have to do it anyway.”
Liam embraced her, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. Now, she let the tears flow free to soak into his wool coat, because this might be it. He lessened his hold on her enough to kiss her, for the final time. In the dim corner of her awar
