Page 57 of Peripheral Vision

“I know you probably don’t want to hear his name… and I’m not sure why I care. Maybe it’s more so for his family than it is for me. But Callum’s body… did it ever make it home?”

His expression darkens, like I knew it would. “Why would you ask that?”

I shrug, though my heart races under his scrutiny. “I don’t know. I guess I just need closure. Watching him be… killed like that in front of me is hard to shake from my brain. It feels unfinished without knowing.”

He exhales, the sound more of a growl than a breath. “Unfinished? He got exactly what he deserved. If Connor didn’t do it, I would’ve.”

I flinch at the harshness in his tone but press on. “I’m not saying he didn’t. It’s not even really about him like I said. It’s his family. Because they deserve closure, don’t they?”

“Closure doesn’t change the fact that he was a monster,” he snaps.

“I know that!” I yell, feeling the weight of his disapproval as all of the softness of our previous conversation begins to fade. “But they don’t deserve to suffer for what he did. I just keepthinking… what if it were me? What if I disappeared and my dad never got the chance to say goodbye?”

His voice softens, just slightly. “You did disappear, Dylan. You disappeared and I had no idea where you were for a week. I’m not your dad, but I’m someone who loves you just as much. And it was because of him that you did.”

“But I’m here. I’m back. We didn’t have to say goodbye.”

There’s a long pause before he speaks. “His body is exactly where it needs to be.”

A chill runs through me at the finality in his words. “And where’s that?”

“Buried. Deep enough that no one will ever find it.”

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

FLETCHER

TWO MONTHS LATER

The sound of our footsteps crunch along the grass in the backyard, the air thick with the scent of pine and damp earth. The season has changed to something much cooler, a bite in the air as we get back into position. “Again,” I say.

Dylan nods at me, wiping sweat from her brow with a flicker of determination in her eyes, a sign that she’s trying. It’s been one of the only ways I’ve been able to touch her, one of the only ways she wouldn’t flinch every time I reached out toward her. But that's all I need because she hasn’t run from me, and that’s enough. We’ve been at this for several hours now, the steady repetition of the drills wearing down the last remnants of fatigue. I step forward quickly, feinting a jab and she reacts just in time, her arm coming up to block with the technique we’ve been drilling. It’s smooth and controlled, no hesitation to her defense as she strikes and blocks. She stumbles a little when I angle her into a takedown maneuver, but she catches herself and corrects the mistake with a swift pivot, regaining her balance with a sharp breath.

“Good, you’re getting faster.” The tension in her face softens for a second and I can see the smallest hint of a smile tug at her lips. It’s fleeting, but it’s progress. Her muscles tighten as she squares off again, readying herself for the next round but I decide to call it. “We’re done for the night, little viper.”

She exhales sharply, her breath misting in the cool air as she relaxes her stance. Her chest rises and falls with steadying breaths. “You know, you’ve never told me why you call me that.”

I chuckle, shaking my head as I gather up the equipment from the grass. “Well for starters, you’ve got a bite that could take down a bull if you wanted to. Your defiant little tongue is… wicked in more ways than I can count. But now, it’s to remind you of your strength. You’ve got a level of venom to you now, an edge, even when you don’t realize it. Hell, especially when you don’t realize it. Most people would fold under the pressure you’ve been through. But you haven’t. I’m just really fucking proud of you.”

She doesn’t respond right away, her focus shifting as she watches me, eyes calculating like she’s trying to piece together the meaning of my words. It’s always been like this with her, so much unsaid and beneath her surface, even before she was kidnapped. But lately I can tell she isn’t shutting me out as much. These training sessions have given her a newfound sense of confidence, a means to channel her hurt and trauma into something she has control over once again. It’s been working better than her therapy sessions so far, more often than not she comes back more pent-up after those and needs a self-defense lesson to wind her down. I don’t know what they talk about in them, I never ask because I know she would tell me if she wanted to. I used to want her to give it up, that control, to allow me to be in control of her, but now all I want is to have her back and after everything that happened, I’m more than happy to take things at her pace. “You really think I’m strong?

I stop what I’m doing and turn to face her fully. “I don’t just think it, I know it. You’ve been through hell, and instead of letting itdestroy you, you’ve turned it into fire. That takes a kind of strength most people can’t even dream of.”

“I don’t feel strong, I mean I feel stronger than I did, but most days it still feels like I’m treading water,” she mutters, kicking at the dirt with the toe of her boot.

“That’s the thing about strength,” I say as I step closer. “It’s not about how you feel in the moment, it’s about what you do when the world tries to pull you under. And when you feel like you’re going to drown, you’ve got me to drag you to shore.”

She laughs, and it’s so unexpected it causes me to freeze mid-step. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that. You’re like a bad habit I can’t kick.”

“You’ve known from the start that you aren’t getting rid of me, try as you might,” I say as I stop in front of her. “Let’s go inside before you catch a cold.” I turn around and start walking away but she grabs my hand.

“Fletcher… I don’t want to get rid of you. I haven’t… for a really long time. Even before everything. You may not be the definition of a good man, but you’re the only one who’s ever truly seen me. And I’m tired of being invisible.” Her voice is so soft, but I’m stopped dead in my tracks, afraid to move, worried that it’ll scare her off. So I turn slowly. She’s standing there, her cheeks flushed and her eyes brighter than they should be, like she’s fighting back tears. Her hand tightens around mine, grounding both of us. “But I’m scared. Scared of what this means, of what it’ll change. I’m scared of losing you if I screw this up. I can’t lose anymore.”

I step closer, giving her time to pull back if she wants to, but she doesn’t. I place both of my hands on her cheeks. “You’re not going to lose me, I’ve been here through the worst of it, haven’t I? Do you really think I’d leave now, just because this is new? Because it’s scary? Because youfinallywant me?” Her lips part like she’s going to argue but I don’t give her the chance. “I’m not letting you drown, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving you were right to stay.” And then I kiss her, soft and steady, like a promise I intend to keep. She doesn’t pull away. Instead, she deepens the kiss.

Fire lights my insides, spreading throughout my body despite the frigid air and she squeaks when I brace my hands under her thighs and lift her into my arms. “Are you sure?” I can feel the way her heart is racing, the rush of adrenaline mixed with potential fear rushing through her veins. She squirms in my grip before she relaxes, not saying a word. It wasn’t a no. I adjust my grip slightly, but the moment I shift my weight, she jerks her knee upward, catching me enough to make me flinch. Before I have a chance to regain my composure, she twists in my arms, bringing her elbow down against my collarbone which causes me to release her. Without pausing, she pivots and sweeps her leg behind mine, causing me to fall to the ground on my back.

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