Page 292 of The Professor's Wife

Tristan’s arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me against him. I pressed my face against his chest, breathing in the faint scent of his shirt. His heartbeat thudded steadily against my ear, its rhythm anchoring me to here and now.

“You don’t know what he’s capable of,” I murmured. “He dragged me like I was nothing. He was going to—” My voice broke. “He was going to take me back there.”

Tristan’s grip tightened. “And I stopped him.”

I shook my head, tears burning my eyes. “He doesn’t let go, Tristan. He’ll twist everything. He’ll make me look like the one who’s wrong.”

“He can say whatever he wants.” Tristan’s voice remained low. “You’re still gone.”

The words settled over me.

I wanted to believe that leaving the house had been enough. That every mile between Oliver and me meant something.

The trauma would have to ebb away.

I was just terrified.

I needed to breathe.

Just breathe.

The campground was quiet except for the wind moving through the trees.

The shaking eased a little. I clutched the dragon tighter, tears burning my eyes. Rowe loved this dragon. He couldn’t sleep without it. And now I was the one holding it like a child.

I wish I could have him back.

I wish he was here.

I wish I had fought harder.

The thoughts broke something inside me. I sobbed quietly against the stuffy, the grief and fear tangling together until I couldn’t tell them apart. I cried hard because I could. Because there were no cameras watching my grief. I finally let it out. All of it. Tristan held me through it, his hand moving through my hair, his chest steady against mine.

Was this it, then?

Was escape possible?

“What comes next?” I finally whispered, my voice hardly above a whisper.

Tristan’s breathing told me he’d been awake longer than I had. He let out a slow breath.

“We get off the island.”

The ferry groaned as it pulled away from the dock, the water churning beneath us. I stood at the railing with Rowe’s dragon stuffy held against me, watching the shoreline shrink into thedistance. The house, Oliver, and everything I had endured were behind me now, slowly disappearing into the horizon.

Tristan came to stand beside me, his hand resting lightly against my back.

“This is it,” he said. “Once we’re on the mainland, we’ll head to my hometown. It’s a nasty drive—”

“Can’t we travel first?” I cut in. “Like you’ve been doing? Just…move.”

Tristan’s blue eyes darted toward mine. He held my stare for a long moment before his lips stretched into a smile.

“If that’s what you want, Daze, we can drive. Spend the summer living in the wild.”

“Just you and me?”

He nodded slowly. “Just you and me.”