Page 58 of Sacrifice
I can't lie to her. "Yeah. But she fought back. She's going to be okay."
"Mom's going to want her to move home," Helle whispers. "She's going to want us under lock and key."
She's probably right. But that's a battle for tomorrow.
Tonight, we just need to get through this.
"Let's go home," Emil says to me.
And for the first time, I don't correct him about whose home we're going to.
Because right now, I need somewhere safe. Someone safe.
Even if that someone is the man I've been running from all along.
Even if letting him protect me means admitting he was right—I am his, whether I've been ready to accept it or not.
The war between us is over.
I just didn't expect to surrender like this, with my best friend's blood on my hands and fear finally winning over pride.
But as Emil leads me out of the hospital, his hand steady on my back, I realize maybe this isn't surrender.
Maybe it's just finally accepting what's been true all along.
I need him.
And tonight, I'm too tired and scared to pretend otherwise.
CHAPTER SIX
Emil
The drive to my place is silent except for the rumble of the bike.
Saga's pressed against my back, but there's no tension in her grip—just exhaustion.
She's running on empty, the adrenaline crash hitting hard.
I take the back roads, checking mirrors more than usual.
No one's following, but after tonight, paranoia feels like wisdom.
The warehouse district is quiet at this hour, most of the buildings dark except for security lights.
This part of town used to be industrial, all factories and shipping companies.
Now it's half gentrified, with artists and young professionals moving into converted lofts next to the remaining blue-collar businesses.
My building sits right on the edge—too nice for the working warehouses, too industrial for the hipsters.
Perfect for someone who doesn't quite fit either world.
I pull into my building's garage, the automatic door closing behind us with a solid thunk.
Three levels of security just to get this far—keypad at the exterior gate, biometric scanner for the garage, and that's before we even get to the loft itself.
"This is you?" Saga asks as she climbs off, looking around the concrete space.
