Book Five: Chapter 182

“Mike?” Velvet smiled. “Thank you for loving me.”

She said it softly, almost as if she were afraid the words might fracture if spoken too loudly. Her fingers tightened briefly in the fabric of his coat, a grounding gesture that reminded him she was still there, still real—if only for a heartbeat longer.

There was a lot he wanted to say in that moment. He wanted to tell her that loving her had been the easiest thing he had ever done. That he would have chosen her again, in every life, in every version of the world. But words had always been blunt instruments, and now they felt especially useless. Anything he said would fall short of the weight pressing against his chest.

Instead, he joined in with Cecilia’s song.

The first note caught in his throat, rough and uneven, but then it smoothed out as the melody carried him forward. T