Chapter 214: The Severing
Jacob~
The moonlight had thinned into mist by the time 4 a.m. crept over the horizon. I sat on the edge of Tiger’s guest room bed, Easter curled beside me, her breathing uneven, her eyes glassy but open. She hadn’t spoken much after I promised not to leave again. Instead, she just held onto my arm like she was afraid I’ll bolt if she mistakenly closed her eye.
She was trembling—small, soft tremors that I could feel down to my bones. Her daughter, slept peacefully in the adjoining room. The contrast between mother and child struck me like a blade. Easter, this delicate fairytale girl with curls that clung to her cheeks and a voice too tender for the kind of pain she’d lived through, was trying so hard to hold it together.
"I shouldn’t be like this," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You... you’ve done enough."
"Don’t say that," I replied, brushing a thumb along her cheek, wiping away the tear that had escaped. "You’re allowed to fall apart. I’m here."
She bit her bottom lip, her gaze flickering away from mine.
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. She was cold despite the blankets. Fragile. Her fingers twisted into the hem of my shirt like she was afraid I’d vanish again.
"I should’ve never left," I murmured into her hair.
"You came back," she whispered.
"Barely," I muttered under my breath. The guilt of it clung to me like a shadow—I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forgive myself for messing up that badly.
Natalie had stayed for a while, perched on the sofa, her arms crossed and her mind clearly filled with guilt and also somewhere else—likely with Fox who was out there searching for Griffin. Around 6 a.m., she finally stood and quietly kissed Easter’s forehead.