“This won’t end,” Jesse said softly. “I’ve got to meet them.”

“What? No. They’ll kill you. That’s how it’ll end. They’ll string you up.”

“I know.”

“We need to find a way to lead them to the river. It’s the only way.”

“There is no other way. Never has been. I’m tired, Mira. Aren’t you? I’m tired of all this. I can’t do this anymore.”

Weariness had aged him, but it had also changed who he was. Gone was the boy, bashful and sincere over the things he loved. The one who was self-conscious, yet daring when he needed to be, like how he’d been the one to stick up for Celine and Mira when they were kids. He was someone who knew what he deserved, and what he deserved was a better world than this.

The boy Mira had known was still there underneath, and he’d come back to her; they just had to survive the night. Not only this one but every one after, and maybe in the midst of that, they could find a way to live.

Mira reached for his hand and clasped it. His skin felt hot. She wanted him to hold on to her for just a little longer. A little longer and maybe they would be saved.

“We just have to keep going. We have a chance.”

“No, Mira. We don’t.”

“We have to try,” she said.

“Even if we get out, even if we make it somehow, they’ll come for me anyway. They already think I killed Celine, and this is their proof. It’ll be like with Mr. Loomis. They’ll lock me up. I can’t go through it again. I can’t. They’re never going to stop. No matter what I do they’re never going to stop. At least if I meet them it’ll be my choice. That’s got to count for something.”

“You’re giving up.”

“It’s not giving up. I’m the one they want, so at least if I go, then maybe I can distract them and you can get out of here. Get out of this place and never come back. Promise me you’ll do that. Go and don’t look back.”

“No, I won’t do it. I won’t. We’re together now, don’t you see? It won’t be like before.”

“It’s not your fault what happened, or mine. It’s just—I don’t know. It’s the world. You got to let me go, Mira. Who knows, maybe I’ll make it,” he said, and he released her hand.

He smiled one last time, content in his decision, and his face showed the glimmer of the boy she’d once known—confident and optimistic, someone who believed in what could be instead of what was.