I pulled back from Luke's embrace just enough to look imploringly into his tormented eyes. "Please, no more half-truths or sparing me the worst to protect me. I need to understand fully what soulless horrors you've been forced to confront."
He stared at me for a long moment, that internal war between wanting to shield me and knowing I needed to comprehend the pitch-black depths we were staring into together raging behind his eyes.
Finally, Luke gave a solemn nod of resigned acceptance. "You're right, my love. If we're to plunge into the nuclear fires of defiance together, you deserve to go in with your eyes fully forged open."
He extricated himself from our embrace and began pacing again in slow, measured strides. When at last he spoke, his deep voice emerged low and utterly devoid of a
