Lucas stared at her. His heart thudded hard in his chest, and he smiled. "You," he said, "will always be my formidable Luna."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her recklessly. Lucas held Ava as though he could press all the things he couldn't say into her lips. Her fingers curled into his hair, anchoring herself to this moment, grounding the chaos of everything around her in the only thing that felt real.
*****
