Chapter 27 Morgan
Morgan
The farmhouse felt different after they came back — louder somehow, even in silence. Damian and the others hovered over the map, their voices clipped and purposeful, but all I could hear was the echo of his words still burning in my chest.
You did good, love. Bloody good.
No one had ever said that to me before. Not like that.
I’d had editors send polite notes, teachers scrawl red circles across my papers, even Ruby teasing me with a grin when I stayed up too late at my desk. But no one had looked at me the way Damian had, eyes steady and sure, like what I’d done mattered. Like I mattered.
And it shook me.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to smother the warmth that kept blooming where fear usually lived.
This wasn’t the time. Ruby was still gone.
Luthor’s shadow was still stretching over everything.
I couldn’t afford to think about the way my skin tingled when Damian’s hand brushed the edge of my notes, or how my heart tripped when his gaze lingered on me.
I picked up the recorder, pressing it to my lips, whispering fast and low. “Focus, Mo. This isn’t about him. It’s about Ruby. She’s out there. Scared. Waiting. You don’t get to fall apart over a man who looks at you like—” I stopped, cheeks burning even though no one could hear.
River’s laugh carried from the other room, Cyclone’s calm reply, and Damian’s deeper tone weaving through them. Even from here, the sound of him steadied me.
I pressed record again, softer this time. “He makes me feel… safe. And that scares me more than the dark. I want him to make love to me.”
The red light blinked, steady as a heartbeat. I switched it off, tucking it under my blanket, as if hiding the words could make them less true.
But deep down, I knew the truth was already out.
Because for the first time since Ruby was taken, when I thought of tomorrow, I didn’t just see fear. I saw him.
And that terrified me almost as much as losing her.