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Whitney had bewitched me, crawled under my skin as Americans would say, and had me caring for her survival. This was something very unfamiliar to me—to my ways—to how I had been trained—to how I had lived my first twenty-nine years of life.

I would forever be grateful.

The storm that brewed inside me, and the volatile waters I was made of, now had a chance to simmer, to calm. Like Whitney, I now had a chance of having a fresh start.

There may have been no beauty in the tragic time we shared together, but a beauty came of it. That is a truth that cannot be denied.

As Whitney and Link dove into the blue water to swim to each other, a hand slipped into my palm. Wolf leaned his head to mine. “You saved her, Jorien.”

Before, when my cellphone had finally rung, I was like Link, not trusting my eyes. My hand had trembled when I brought the device to my ear, and my soul sighed when I heard Wolf’s voice.

I wasn’t alone anymore.

Squeezing Wolf’s hand, I swallowed, overwhelmed with how good it felt to be on the right side of karma. Karma… Answering Wolf, I exhaled. “No… Crash saved her.”

Crash made all this possible.

I kissed Wolf’s head. “Now, it is up to Link to see her through.”

In the center of the lake, two souls reunited…

Yes, there was a beauty… that rose from the darkness.

Beauty… that can’t be denied.