Page 155 of Shatter

She doesn't look at any of them.

She walks across the courtyard, away from me, toward the far side of the fire where the gate is.

My breath catches, and every muscle in my body goes tight.

I watch her walk away from me across the courtyard, her back to me, the white letters of my name curving between her shoulder blades, and I think of the note on my pillow.

I love you. I'm sorry.

The cold side of the bed.

In the middle of the courtyard, with the entire club watching and the fire roaring behind her, she stops walking.

She turns around.

She looks straight at me across the fire.

Then she smiles, slow and sure and wide enough to crinkle her eyes, and she walks back.

Across the courtyard and past the fire.

Back to me.

She stops in front of me and looks up, the firelight on her face, her eyes wet and shining.

"Just checking." Her voice is soft, meant only for me. "I wanted to see if I'd come back."

"And?" My voice is gone.

"I always will." She reaches up and puts her hand flat on my chest, over the hidden patch and my heart. "Every time."

I pull her in.

I wrap my arms around her, low on her back, nowhere near her neck, and lift her off her feet.

The courtyard roars.

I don't hear it.

All I hear is her laughing into my neck, and my own name, my real one, in her mouth.

Espen.

She came to me in pieces.

She walked away from me once to save me, and she walked back tonight because she wanted to.

I set her down, and she doesn't let go.

Neither do I.

EPILOGUE

Anni

Butter has to be cold.

I tell it to the new girl at four-fifteen on a weekday morning in October, standing beside her at the steel table in Zizi's with my arms folded and flour on my cheek.