"It’s time to move forward, Lyra." Damian’s voice broke through the silence that had hung in the air between us for far too long.
I glanced at him, standing there like a shadow, his intense eyes meeting mine. The man who had once been a stranger, a dangerous force that I’d feared, now stood by my side as something more. A friend, a partner, a fellow survivor. But most of all, he was my future.
"We have a world to rebuild," I said softly, feeling the weight of every word as if the entire burden of our past—my past—rested on my shoulders. "And it won’t be easy. There are still scars left behind, things we can’t erase."
He didn’t respond at first, just watched me with those unreadable eyes, but I could sense his approval, the way his gaze softened just a fraction. It was enough. He didn’t
