Page 49 of Knot My Type

"The roads are being cleared," Fen added gently. "You'll be able to leave soon. Today, if you want."

She nodded slowly, her knuckles white where she gripped the dish towel. "I see."

The silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we weren't saying. I wanted to tell her to stay. Wanted to drop to my knees and beg her not to go, to give us a chance to prove that what we'd built was real and worth fighting for.

Instead, I said, "We'll help you pack. Drive you wherever you need to go."

"Of course," she whispered. "That's very kind of you."

Kind. The word felt like a knife between my ribs. After everything we'd shared, everything we'd become to each other, she thought we were being kind.

"Eliana," Rhys started, his voice rough with emotion.

"I should probably start getting my things together," she said quickly, backing toward the stairs. "Thank you. All of you. For everything."

She disappeared up the stairs, leaving the three of us alone with the wreckage of our careful composure.

"Well," Fen said after a long moment. "That went well."

I sank into my chair, suddenly exhausted. Outside, the sun continued its relentless work, melting away the barriers that had kept us safe from the real world. Soon, the snow would be gone, the roads clear, and our borrowed time would be nothing but a memory.

The only question was whether we'd have the courage to fight for something more, or if we'd let the best thing that ever happened to us slip away without a word.

Time, it seemed, would tell.

ELIANA

Iclosed the bedroom door behind me and leaned against it, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged bird. The dish towel was still clutched in my hands, my knuckles white with tension I couldn't seem to release.

The storm was breaking. The roads were clear.

I could leave.

The thought should have filled me with relief. For a month, I'd been telling myself this was temporary, that I was just biding my time until I could get back to my real life. Whatever that meant anymore.

But standing here in this room that had become mine—with its handmade quilt and the little touches the guys had added to make me comfortable—all I felt was a hollow ache in my chest.

I sank onto the bed and stared at my hands. They were shaking slightly, the fine tremor that always came when my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. The taste in my mouth was copper and salt, fear and tears I refused to shed.

What was wrong with me? A month ago, I'd been running from everything—my past, my pain, the crushing weight of survivor's guilt that made every breath feel stolen. I'd beenexisting in a gray haze of numbness, moving from place to place like a ghost haunting her own life.

And then the storm had forced me into their world, and slowly, so slowly I hadn't even noticed it happening, the gray had started to fade. Colors had begun seeping back into my existence. Not bright, vibrant hues—I wasn't ready for that yet—but soft pastels that whispered of possibility.

Kael's gruff protectiveness that hid a heart more tender than he'd ever admit. Rhys's easy charm that could coax a smile from me even on my darkest days. Fen's quiet strength that anchored all of us when the currents got too strong.

They'd given me something I thought I'd lost forever: a sense of belonging.

I stood abruptly and moved to the small desk by the window—another thoughtful addition, installed after Fen noticed me scribbling in margins of books when I thought no one was looking. The laptop they'd set up for me sat closed, patient as a loyal pet waiting for attention.

My reflection stared back at me from the dark screen. Dark hair messy from sleep, dark eyes too wide with vulnerability.

I opened the laptop and stared at the blank document that appeared. The cursor blinked at me expectantly, a metronome marking time I didn't want to acknowledge.

And then, almost without conscious thought, my fingers began to move across the keys.

Chapter One: The Storm

The cabin appears through the driving snow like a mirage, all golden light and promise of warmth. I stumble toward it on legs that barely hold me, my body more ice than flesh after hours of walking through the blizzard.

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