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“I don’t want him to hurt you,” she says almost so quietly I don’t hear her. Her gaze is fixed on her hands.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” I say.

Her eyes lift to mine, and tears shimmer on the surface.

I blow out a breath. “You’re my sister. The only blood that matters is the blood we share. It’s why he brought you in. He hoped he’d be able to use you to manipulate me because he was losing his control over me. But that doesn’t matter now. We make our own family. We use him like he tried to use us. There’s always a way out.”

She smiles. “You called me your sister.”

“You are.”

The ambulance slows to a halt, and she frowns.

“Do you think I’m like him?” she asks.

That worry in her eyes is so fucking familiar. How many times did I worry about being like him? How many times did I need the guys to reel me back in and keep me from taking it too far?

Harper’s smile flashes in my mind. She centers me. Sparks my humanity. If it weren’t for her, I would have dismissed Penny as another user. Never given her anything of me.

“No. I don’t think you’re like him. I think you’re like me. We all succumb to the darkness when we’re hurt. You were in a bad situation. If it weren’t for you, Harper wouldn’t have made it out of there. You just need someone who makes it worth staying on the right side.”

Penny’s eyes glisten with more tears. She swallows and nods.

The doors open, and I help her down. She declines the wheelchair and we follow the EMT into the ER. She hands us off to a nurse who takes one look at Penny and her eyes soften.

“You’re the last girl from the farm?” the nurse asks gently.

Penny nods and a single tear rolls down her cheek. “Penny Wright.”

“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

We follow the nurse, but we pass by a room with an open door. The nurse goes into the room next to it.

“Penny?”

She turns at Will’s voice from the room. For a moment, they just take each other in. Will’s on the bed hooked up to machines with a plastic tube in his hand, billowing steam.

“Will,” she breathes out, but still she hesitates.

“Are you okay?” he asks. He looks like he’s about to climb out of that bed and find out for himself.

She’s covered in Tanner’s blood, but she still has on Will’s jacket. Her gaze falls to the ground. “It’s not my blood.”

His expression when she lowers her head is everything I feel when I look at Harper. A little lost, but so fucking hopeful. Like she’s the light in his darkness.

“She thought you died.” I step into his room and pull Penny with me. I needed Harper to guide me to love, maybe they need me to shove them in the right direction.

Will doesn’t take his eyes off Penny. “I would have. To save her. She’s worth it.”

Penny’s gaze lifts, filled with awe, and Will smiles.

“I need to...” She gestures to her clothes and holds up her bagged hands. Tears trail down her face. “I’ll come back after. If that’s okay?”

Will gives her a crooked smile. “I’ll hold my breath, waiting for you.”

A laugh bursts out of her. “Please don’t. I like you breathing.”

His smile drops a little. “Are you okay? They didn’t⁠—”