Chapter 66
Ava
Quiet.
No weight.
No pain.
No sound.
Just… stillness.
I drift.
No edges.
No pull.
It would be easy to stay.
No more fighting.
No more running.
Just rest.
Then—
a voice.
Cracks through the silence.
“You don’t get to save yourself and then leave.”
It’s rough.
Breaking.
Ethan.
Something catches in my chest.
Not pain.
A pull.
Stronger than before.
Not a memory.
A tether.
Images flicker—
His face—
close—
his hands—
steady—
the way he looks at me—
like I matter.
Like I’m everything.
I am.
The thought hits solid.
I didn’t fight this hard to disappear.
Didn’t claw my way back—
just to let go now.
No.
Not happening.
Not this time.
I reach.
Toward the voice.
Toward the pull.
Toward him.
And this time—
I don’t hesitate.