“He managed to get to Mum, Dax!” I cry. My chest rattles with more emotion that I don’t want to set free, afraid that if I do, I might never find the strength to recover. “I would die before I let him hurt you or Lena! We all would,” Dax replies, squeezing me tighter against his chest. I believe him, I do, and that only makes me more fearful, not less. I can’t lose him, any of them. I won’t survive it. “No! Don’t talk like that. I wouldn’t be able to bear it!” Twisting in his lap and straddling his thighs with mine, I claw at his shoulders, my fingernails digging into the back of his neck as I
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