Chapter 26
Moe
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A knock interrupted dinner. Moe motioned for Jillian to stay at the table and answered the door to Finn. His friend had called twenty minutes ago asking if he could stop by.
Finn's sharp eyes and tense shoulders warned him that the visit had to do with the danger coming from Everstill.
"What happened?" Moe asked immediately.
Finn stayed near the doorway and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "The shadow was at the apartment last night."
Moe's stomach hardened. He looked to Jillian, who was already walking toward him.
Finn exhaled. "It broke the living room window."
Jillian gasped softly beside Moe, her hand flying to her mouth. Moe stepped closer, instinctively shielding her with his body.
Finn continued, "It didn't come inside, but it pushed harder than anything I've seen."
"It's getting stronger." Moe clenched his jaw. "There's nothing to stop it from hurting one of us."
Finn nodded. "It's not just watching anymore. It's testing boundaries. Testing each one of us."
Jillian swallowed, her voice barely steady. "Why would it break the window?"
"You were at our apartment with Moe earlier last night." Finn looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and warning. "I believe it was looking for you."
Moe stepped forward, his voice low and rough. "It's not taking her."
Finn ran his hand down his beard. "I figured you'd feel that way. Just... be careful. Both of you."
He left without another word.
Moe shut the door and rubbed the back of his neck. He had no idea how strong the shadow could grow. If it could keep growing as big as the veil, there would be nothing he could do to stop it from hurting them.
Jillian stood in the middle of the living room with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the floor. Moe watched her for a long moment, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on her.
Her mother was slipping away from her. The shadow was growing stronger. Everstill was trying to win her back as if she were a prize meant to be claimed.
He walked toward her slowly, giving her time to look up. When she did, her eyes were wet.
His chest pounded. Fuck, she was the bravest soul he'd ever known. No matter what tried to beat her down, she refused to give up.
"Moe," she whispered, "I'm scared."
He reached out and took her hands gently, his rough palms closing around her smaller ones. "I know."
She swallowed hard. "It's getting worse."
"Yeah."
"Why is it so determined to take me?"
He lifted her hands to his chest, holding them there like he needed her touch to stay upright. He looked into her eyes.
"Because you matter to me," he said quietly.
Her neck stiffened. "What?"
He took a slow breath, steadying himself. It was plain for him to see why the shadow wanted her. He wasn't good with words. He wasn't good with feelings. But he'd been carrying his feelings inside him for weeks. It was time to let them out.
"You're the only thing that makes sense to me anymore," he said. "My time in Everstill. My past. Everything is foggy. It's hard to remember the details. But you... I feel everything, sweetheart. I remember one day to the next."
Her breath hitched.
"Everstill took everything from me. Years. Memories. Pieces of who I was. It tried to keep me away from living. Tried to break me. Tried to make me forget what it felt like to be human." He lifted her chin gently so she would look at him. "And then you showed up."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You pulled me out," he said. "Not the veil. Not luck. You. You're the reason I'm here. You're the reason I'm still not trapped in that place. You're the reason I'm not lost anymore."
She squeezed his hands, trembling.
He leaned closer, forehead almost touching hers. "You're my lifeline, Jillian. The only one I've ever had."
A tear slid down her cheek.
He brushed it away with his thumb, as gently as he could. "Everstill isn't taking you. Not while I'm breathing. Not while I can stand between you and whatever controls the rift."
She let out a shaky breath. "Moe..."
He cupped her face. "I'm not letting it take you. I'm not letting it ruin what we have together. You hear me?"
She nodded, tears falling freely now. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, holding her close, holding her like she was the only thing keeping him alive.
And maybe she was.
Maybe she always had been.
The darkness might have followed him across the rift. It might have chosen Jillian. But he'd chosen her, too.
Jillian stayed in his arms, her face pressed against his chest, her fingers curled lightly in the fabric of his shirt. Moe held her, letting her breathe against him until her trembling eased.
When she finally pulled back, she didn't go far. She kept her hands on his chest, her eyes trying to understand something too big to name.
"Moe," she whispered, "I'm afraid of losing you."
He swallowed hard. "You won't."
She shook her head, tears gathering again. "Everstill took you once. It could take you again. It could take you away from me."
He stepped closer, closing the small space between them. "Not if you're with me."
Her breath caught. "What do you mean?"
He took her hands again, lifting them to his chest, right over his heartbeat.
"You're the reason I got out. You're the reason I'm staying out.
I didn't have anything before you. Not really.
I was an outlaw, riding with enough anger in me to kill anyone who tried to stop me from living, but I was dead inside.
I had a past I couldn't outrun. But you're the first thing that ever made me want to be better than what I was. "
Her lips parted, trembling. "You're good to me."
"I will protect you, because you matter to me. More than anything else ever has."
A tear slid down her cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb. His heart pulsed. He couldn't face life without her.
"Moe..." she breathed.
He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "I don't know how to do this right. I don't know how to be soft. I don't know how to be good. But I know how to stay. And I'm staying with you."
Her lower lip quivered. He cupped her face with both hands.
"You're my life," he said, voice rough with emotion. "I can't lose you."
She pressed her forehead to his, her breath trembling. "You won't."
He inhaled deeply, committed to her in an unbreakable way. They were two people marked by darkness, choosing each other anyway.