The Rise of Skywalker (Star Wars: Novelizations, #9)

by Rae Carson

Kylo Ren showed mercy to nothing and no one, but he had a grudging appreciation for things that struggled to survive.

Kylo knew better than to allow himself to feel kinship with the creature, but there was no denying that the Jedi would consider Kylo Ren to be unnatural, too. An abomination. A monster, the scavenger had said.

Kylo had tried to turn her once. His second-greatest failure, that he could not convince Rey to join him.

It did something strange to her, to hear her name on his lips. Had he ever spoken it aloud before? She couldn’t remember…

She opened her mouth to tell him to go kiss a rathtar, but he moved too fast, into her space so that he loomed over her. He smelled of molten iron.

Kylo Ren yanked off his mask to get some fresh air. He was an idiot.

Rey and Kylo circled each other like stalking wolves, slow and intense.

He removed his mask. A gesture of vulnerability. Of trust. It suddenly occurred to her how long it had been since she’d seen his face. The scar on his cheek had faded, but it would still mark him forever.

Kylo considered it a small price to pay to encounter Rey again, to provoke her into a rage, to say the word dyad and watch the truth of it wash over her lovely face.

He hardly paid attention. He kept seeing her face, the way her lips had parted with surprise, the way her body had canted toward him.

Despair nearly choked her. To escape a future dark self, only to collide with Kylo Ren. It felt like her worst nightmares coming true. It felt like destiny.

He was maskless. Somehow, she knew that he would never wear his mask for her again.

No, there he was, striding unerringly toward her, ocean water pouring from his hair, his face. He had withstood the wave. The expression on his face said that he could withstand anything.

His eyes searched her face, though she wasn’t certain what he was looking for. His cheeks were wet, and she couldn’t tell where ocean spray ended and tears began.

His eyes flew open. He stared at her in confusion, and maybe…longing?