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.It’s strange not having an agenda.”“Who says we don’t have an agenda?” I wink at her.She laughs.“Let me guess.You have a list of worst case scenarios we need to go over.”I spin her toward me and wrap my arms around her, pulling her close.“I look at you, and I see nothing but best case scenarios.”She smiles, and I feel like a prince.“How about this?” Her voice is sly.“Worst case scenario: Logan doesn’t kiss me right this second.Any idea how to solve that one?”“I think I can handle that.” I lean toward her, but she’s still talking.“Another worst case scenario: Logan stops kissing me before the sun goes down.Now that would be a serious problem, don’t you think?”“Absolutely.” I run my fingers up her back, tangle them in her hair, and tilt her head back.Her breath catches, a tiny gasp that makes me desperate for her.“Or maybe—”“Are you—”“—you could—”“—going to keep talking—”“—just kiss me already.”“Yes.” I crush her to me and kiss her like I never need to come up for air.Like everything I ever need is right here in my arms.She pulls back.“I love you, Logan.”“I love you, too.Always.”And then I kiss her until the sun goes down and the stars prick the sky and all I can hear is the way her heart pounds against mine.Until her breath and mine are tangled up and I can’t tell where one of us begins and the other one ends.Until all I feel is the way we love each other.This is all I want—all I’ll ever want—Rachel, and starlight, and peace.UNCORRECTED E-PROOF–NOT FOR SALEHarperCollins Publishers.EPILOGUERACHELI can measure my life in befores and afters.Before I saw Oliver die or realized that I loved Logan.Before I killed Melkin and became focused on revenge.Before I chose silence inside me instead of feeling the grief that consumed me after I lost my dad.That girl—a girl without scars, without doubts, and without the ability to see that life isn’t always black and white—is barely recognizable to me now.Now, seven months after the battle at Rowansmark, I live in the afters.After the loss and the betrayal.After the fight to right the wrongs and save those who needed saving.After I let myself feel the grief and the healing.I’m scarred, inside and out, but I’m also stronger.I’ve learned how to be a warrior.I’ve learned that hope rises out of the ashes if I let it.And I’ve learned that loving myself and others takes more strength than any sword fight.Especially if the person you’re trying to love is a boy stubbornly determined to invent a new steam-operated system of transit that will connect the city-states to one another now that we can safely outfit the trains with a sonic pulse that will keep away any lingering tanniyn.“It’s dinnertime,” I say as I enter the warehouse and push past the pile of junk—Logan would call it scrap or parts or nectar of the gods—and find him standing inside the framework for a boxcar that is four times the size of a wagon.Blueprints are stacked neatly on a table to the left, and schematics for the track are drawn on the wall to the right.“I’ll be there in a bit,” he says without looking at me.I roll my eyes.“That’s what you said about lunch.Five hours ago.And yet.here you are.”“I wonder if we need an ultrasonic signal on each individual car or just on the engine?” He gazes into space.“I wonder if you’re ever going to come out of your fancy Lankenshire warehouse and eat the meal I’m pretty sure I didn’t burn.Marcus made honey cakes for dessert.Nola and Quinn are going to come over tonight to sit with him so we can have some time alone.Or maybe because they want time alone.Quinn won’t tell me anything, of course, but I think he really likes her.So, time alone.what do you think we should—”“I’ve got it!” He snaps his fingers and looks around wildly before snatching a piece of chalk from the floor and climbing out of the framework so he can draw on the wall.“The trains don’t need to carry the signals.We can post them along the tracks themselves.”“I’m going to post you along the track if you don’t leave this alone for a few hours and come enjoy the sunset with me.We have things to talk about.The triumvirate is going to send me on my first courier mission next week.To Brooksworth.Of course, I have to take Cassidy I-Know-Everything Vaughn with me as my mentor, but still [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]