Icy rage frosted my nerve endings in what I knew was preparation for a battle I couldn’t let happen. Instead of sinking into that calm, deadly space, I forced a smile to my face. “You see, Mr. Bradley, I promised the woman I love that I wouldn’t yell at her dad. I’ve never broken a promise to Willow, and I’m not going to let you goad me into breaking one now. So I’ll simply say that Xander came out of the tunnel that day with Charity, screaming that he’d lost Willow. I took his headlamp and went after her, just like I’ve always done and will always do.”

He seethed but didn’t move.

“I found her by the grace of God. Or, since you think I’m evil, maybe it was a deal with the Devil. Either way, I didn’t care. My soul in exchange for her life is a trade I’ll make any day.”

His eyes narrowed.

“When I found her at the bottom of a ventilation shaft that I still can’t find on a map, she had a busted nose, bloodied lip, and skinned…everything. I put the headlamp on her so she could see in case anything happened to me, and then I pushed her up thirty feet of that shaft, give or take an almost-twelve-year-old’s memory. She cried the entire way, and a couple times it was for you.”

He flinched.

“Once we got to the top of the shaft, I took the headlamp back so I didn’t trip on my face. Then I picked her up in my arms, and I didn’t put her down again until I found you.”

Two lines appeared vertically in his forehead. “Xander said you wouldn’t let him help you. That you slowed everyone down getting her the help she needed.”

“He’s right. And he had just turned fourteen, so he probably could have gotten her out of the mine faster once we got up the shaft. But he wasn’t in the mine, Mr. Bradley. He was waiting at the entrance with Charity and Sullivan, and since he’d already lost her once that day, I wasn’t about to hand her over to anyone besides you.”

He stared me down, still not believing.

“You took Sullivan with you to the hospital and sent me home.”

“They were friends. You were—”

“Her soul mate. But that’s okay. I forgave you for that a long time ago.”

Two figures approached the door, and Owen flipped the sign from open to closed. First time for everything.

“How can you even say that? She was Sullivan’s. She’s only with you now because she sees something of him in you. You think she’s in love with you? She’s not. She’s in love with that part of Sullivan you represent, and it will eventually destroy her.”