"Yes."
Fenris turned from the window at the sound of her voice, and Aria didn't let herself hesitate on the rest of it, the words coming easier now that she'd spent the whole night arriving at them. "My answer is yes. Not because I don't understand what it costs — I understand exactly what it costs, better than I understood most of the decisions that shaped my life before yesterday. Because I do understand, and I'm choosing it anyway. With eyes open, the way you asked me to."
Something in him seemed to unlock at that — not relief exactly, something deeper, steadier, like a held breath finally released after being trapped too long in his chest. He crossed the room and stopped in front of her, close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating off him the way she had in the Silver Dawn
