Page 45 of Hollow State

"Yeah. That didn't come out right."

"Neither did that entire conversation," she said. "Are you okay? Or did you take a gummy that I wasn't aware of?"

He chuckled. "I'm running on maybe an hour of sleep. I'm exhausted. I might be a little nervous. During all the nights you’ve spent in my room, you haven't made it easy for me. But mostly, I'm just trying to be more engaged with everyone."

"Noted."

Scout and Quinn rounded the corner just as Darwin paused at his door.

Scout stopped dead in her tracks. She smiled. "It's about damn time."

"Keep moving." Quinn pressed a hand on Scout's back, prodding her forward.

"Good grief." Darwin got them inside and shut the door with his heel. "Is this what dorms in college or university are like?"

"You don't remember?"

"I was married." He set the brake. "I didn't live in the dorms. Sarah and I first rented a studio. Then we rented a one-bedroom apartment until the divorce."

"What was that like?"

"Our apartment?" He slid his arm gently under her legs and she clasped her hands around his neck. "It started out pretty pathetic. We couldn't afford anything. But Sarah made it nice. She was good at making something out of nothing." Darwin set Wynn down on the bed.

She winced as he pulled his arm from under her leg.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Let's get a pillow under there." He worked it under her knee, raising it a half inch at a time. "How's that?"

"Better. Thanks."

Taking the blanket from the edge of the bed, he laid it over her legs before moving to the far side. He eased in next to her, careful not to hit her leg. Taking off his glasses, he set them on the nightstand and turned. He reached out, tracing his finger across her jawline. Leaning in, he pressed his lips against her mouth. The kiss was soft, tender, and wildly romantic.

He pulled back far enough to look at her. "I want you," he said. "I've spent months qualifying everything. And when that leg heals, I won’t produce a laundry list of excuses. I'm done doing that. But I need you to understand it doesn't change that I feel responsible for⁠—"

"Please stop doing that."

"I've been working on this speech since I pulled that bullet out of your leg." He kissed her again. "Gideon told me he'd give up the world for Zadie. Windows included."

Wynn snorted. "That's his go-to line. Sometimes that man's so cheesy."

"It was actually quite sweet," Darwin said. "Those two found each other in a hole in the ground, and I'm glad about it every single day."

"Why do I sense a but coming?" She understood the conflict that every couple faced in the bunker. The relief and gratitude Coulter and Quinn experienced when they found out the women they loved weren't dead had been overwhelming. Coulter was willing to give up everything to be with Neve. And Quinn was willing to put his job on the line for Scout as well as the entire team.

Gideon, once he’d walked into the bunker, wasn't about to walk out. Granted, he also had a stake in taking down Finch and Hyperion, but he didn't have to do it from inside the bunker.

Choices were made, and on the surface, they weren't complicated. But deep down, they weren't as simple as choosing this or that.

"I don't want him to have to mean it. I want the decision to give up windows to be his, not Finch's."

"That's not exactly what he meant by it."

"Maybe not, but I'm telling you what I want." Darwin shifted sideways. "This isn't just about clearing my name. It's about all of you having the choice to stay here at Black Hollow. Or go back to your old lives. Or do something entirely different. Right now, all we're doing is pretending to play the hand we've been dealt and accepting it as if it were a choice. It's not."

"We all understand that. I didn't ask for any of this," she said. "To say I'm angry about what happened the day our team was ambushed would be an understatement. We all want Finch to pay. We all want exactly what you just voiced. But here's the thing, and I want you to actually hear it." She palmed his cheek. "If somebody walked up to me and said pick the people you're going to be buried alive in a mountain with—I'd pick these ones. Every one of them. Every single time." She got her mouth next to his ear. "You included, because I'm not unhappy down here. I'm not just making the best of a bad situation. I'm actually living a life. I have purpose. And it's not singular."