“It’s not your fault. You did everything to make sure I was safe.”

“Did I?” he countered. “I knew there could be resistance. I knew there would be people hungry for revenge. I overestimated their desire to survive. I shouldn’t have let you walk off like that. I should’ve been there. I failed to protect you—”

“Stop.” I tipped forward, cupping his cheek with the hand he didn’t hold. “It wasn’t your fault,” I repeated. “Please, don’t think that. I…” I inhaled sharply. Sharing my feelings had never been easy, not even after speaking those incredibly powerful words. How could it be when I’d been groomed to never do so? But I needed to continue to breathe these words. I had to because I could feel the sour bite of guilt. “I couldn’t bear it if you thought you were responsible. I don’t want that to eat away at you. You haven’t failed me. I don’t know where I would be right now if it weren’t for you. I don’t even know if I would be alive.”

He said nothing as he closed his eyes, turning his head so his cheek pressed into my palm.

I dragged my thumb along his bottom lip. “But I do know that I would be… I would be less. I wouldn’t feel like this—like I’m whole. And that’s because of you.” I took another breath. “When I first saw the Pillars and stood in the Chambers, I did feel like this was home. It was like a sense of rightness—like what I feel for you. It felt right to be here. And maybe that has to do with my ancestry. I…I don’t know what Atlantia is to me now or what it will become, but that doesn’t matter.” I realized how true that statement was in the moment, and the sudden knowledge of that lifted so much weight from me. Having Atlantia’s acceptance and that of Casteel’s parents would be wonderful, but our acceptance of one another was so much more important. That was what mattered when I closed my eyes at night and opened them again in the morning. “You are the foundation that helps me stand. You are my walls and my roof. My shelter. You are my home.”

His lashes swept up, the amber of his eyes churning wildly. “As you are mine, Poppy.”

“Then please don’t blame yourself. Please. If you do, I’ll…I don’t know what I’d do, but I’m sure you wouldn’t like it.”

“Does it involve stabbing?”

I stared at him.

“Because I’d probably like that.”

I sighed. “Cas.”

A faint smile appeared. “I will try not to blame myself. Okay? The guilt that I feel isn’t something that will go away immediately, but I will try. For you.”

“For us,” I corrected.

“For us.”

Exhaling softly, I nodded even though I wanted it to go away immediately. “I knew I would see you again, even as I was held captive.” I slid a hand down the satiny hardness of his chest. “I knew I would either get free, or you would find me. And you did. You found me.”