“Raven, it’s over,” Jack insisted. “Evelyn must’ve tricked Andrew into killing your mom so she could marry your dad. Now she’s dead too, and killing him won’t make any difference.”

“It will make a difference.” Raven’s breathing was shallow, his dark curls heavy with sweat. “He doesn’t deserve to live. He killed them both.”

“No,” Andrew sputtered, his legs buckling beneath him. “I didn’t kill—”

“When someone hands you a gun, you check it for bullets,” Raven spat. “You don’t hold it to someone’s chest and then feel sorry for yourself when it goes off. You don’t get to pretend you’re innocent.”

“You’re right.” Jack was eight feet away from him. A universe unfolded between them. “Andrew killed two people, not because he was forced into it, but because he made those choices. Lily brought the belladonna to her mother’s house. I hurt somebody because I didn’t know how else to stop him. All of us are guilty, Raven.” A beat, as Jack held his warm, brown gaze. “Except you.”

“Stop.”

“You’re the kindest person I’ve ever known.” Jack took a single step, then two. “The best person.”

“And what has kindness ever done for me?” His face contorted, tears welling in his eyes. “My mom bled out in my arms. Nobody even tried to find her killer, and instead of being there for me, my dad threw me away. Because I was kind. Because I was weak.”

“You aren’t weak,” Jack said, as Lily backed toward the living room. She mouthed Dr. Holloway to Jack, slowly pulling out her phone.

“I am weak,” Raven murmured, his gaze trained on Jack. “That’s why you always tried to protect me. You thought I couldn’t protect myself.”

Jack took another step, his heart hammering. His stomach clenching. “I didn’t protect you because you were weak. I protected you because I wanted you in the world.”

Raven’s face crumpled, tears spilling freely down his cheeks. “Why?”

“Because the world is better with you in it. And I have always loved you, Raven. Just like you’ve always loved me.” Jack took three more steps, his arm outstretched. “You don’t have to do this. Your mother wouldn’t want this.”

“My mother is gone.”

Jack’s fingers grazed Raven’s cheek. He trembled at the touch, leaning forward, and the shears slipped a little. “We’ll replant her roses in the garden. We’ll make her spiced cider in the fall. We’ll fill the house with her memory, just like you already started to—”

“I didn’t do that,” Raven interrupted. “That was my dad.”

“Fine, then we’ll help him,” Jack said, unfaltering. “We’ll put all her pictures back in the frames. And every time I look into your eyes, I’ll see the same light I saw in hers.”

“You will?” he said reverently, a whisper.