Page 95 of Code Name: Reaper
After we both settled in the water, she sighed. “There’s so much I don’t know.”
“Some answers, you’ll learn from the book and others, from Lyra.”
“Do you think they’ll like me?”
“They’re your family. Of course they’ll like you.” I pulled her closer. “But more than that, they’ll be proud of who you’ve become. I have a feeling they already are.”
She leaned into me, and I could feel her relaxing for the first time in days. “I’m not angry about the lies anymore. I mean, how could I be? Anna has lost so much. So has Lyra. First her sister, then her father and brother. And now, her only remaining sibling.” She turned in my arms to face me once more. “They all died for a cause I knew nothing about.”
I studied her face in the dim bathroom light. Where I’d expected to see grief, I saw determination. Where I’d anticipated breakdown, I found strength. This was the Charity I’d grown to love more than I ever dreamed possible.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
“Wondering what Anna will be like.”
“Probably a lot like you. Strong. Stubborn. Survivor of impossible circumstances.”
“And Beacon—Katarina. She looks like she’s my age, doesn’t she?”
“She does.”
“Do you think we’ll be friends?”
“I think you’ll be more like sisters.”
She smiled at that, the first genuine smile I’d seen from her since we walked into that warehouse. “I hope so,” she whispered. “I’ve never had a sister.”
The water was cooling, but neither of us made any move to get out. This felt sacred somehow—this quiet moment between the chaos of the day and whatever came next.
“Your parents would be proud of you,” I murmured.
“Would they?”
“I’m certain of it.”
She was quiet for several seconds. “I keep thinking about Eleanor’s words. ‘It’s up to you now.’ Like she was passing something to me.”
“She was.”
“A legacy I never asked for.”
“The best legacies are usually earned.”
She looked up at me then, water droplets clinging to her eyelashes. “Are you ready for this? For whatever comes next?”
“Do you want to know I’m ready to help you take down the people who killed your family?”
“That and if you’re ready to love someone whose life comes with a target on it.”
I cupped her face in my hands. “Charity, I fell in love with you while you were already being hunted by professional killers. You in someone’s crosshairs isn’t exactly new territory for us.”
“This is different. This is permanent. This is?—”
I silenced her with a kiss, pouring everything I felt into it. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against hers.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I assured her. “Whatever your family needs, whatever this mission requires, whatever dangers come—I’m with you.”
“Even if it means leaving the coalition?”
