As I stared at the scuffed floor, I felt the corner of my mouth lift. I finally understood my mom’s decision all those years ago. For the first time ever, I could relate to her sacrifice. Garth’s life mattered to me, just as much as my own. Maybe more.

The realization was shocking, and I raised my eyes to meet his once more. What was happening to me? What were these thoughts I was having? These things I was feeling? I searched his eyes, looking for some explanation. All I found was a troubling sense of contentment, of hope and joy and peace. And it gave rise to a fear that threatened to consume me completely.

I couldn’t fall in love with a human. It was the ultimate form of self-destruction for a Nejeret. It was setting myself up for guaranteed, unavoidable failure. For heartbreak. For soul-destroying devastation.

And yet there didn’t seem to be any way to stop it. I was a train, hurtling toward a half-completed trellis, and I had no brakes.

Garth licked his lips. “Kat, I—”

It’s just the adrenaline from the fight, I told myself. Stressful situations cause heightened emotions. That’s all. I lowered my gaze and cleared my throat. “I borrowed your car,” I said, interrupting him and redirecting us away from any impromptu declarations. Not ready, not now . . . not ever. “And your cat’s in there,” I added. The corner of my mouth lifted once more, and I glanced up at him through my lashes. “Gotta say, sweet ride, copper.”

Garth’s eyes widened, whatever he’d been about to say catching in his throat, and the faintest smile touched his lips. “Dorman told me you took Eva with you. Thank you, Kat, really.” He shook his head ever so slowly. “So what do you think of Lola?”

My eyebrows rose. “Lola? You named your car Lola?”

He shrugged.

I met his shrug with a single raised shoulder. “She’s alright,” I said, mock nonchalance thick in my voice.

Dorman coughed purposefully and took a step toward us. “So . . .” He gestured to the one-way gateway. “This is a clusterfuck.”

I glanced at him, then shifted my focus beyond him to the gateway and the scene taking place in Garth’s condo. Cops and paramedics swarmed the place, wheeling a couple of the injured mercenaries out on stretchers and escorting a few more out in cuffs. A few more would follow in body bags, once the scene was processed. The scene that was Garth’s condo. His home.

“I’m so sorry,” I told Garth, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

He turned his attention from me to the gateway, blowing out a breath. “I knew there’d be risks when I offered to help you.” His words were exactly the right thing to settle my guilt and doubt, but his tone was tight, and his expression was weary. I didn’t think he’d fully processed the implications of all that had happened.

“You can’t go back there, Garth,” I said, needing him to grasp the severity of the situation. Of his situation, courtesy of me and my drama. “You can’t go home, and you can’t go to the station.” I turned to face him, reaching for his hand. His darker skin was raw and red, where the pale skin on the back of my hand was already mostly healed. His fate was now tied to mine, and his life was so much more fragile. “You have to disappear until I get this all sorted out.”