He had been watching her long before she saw him. That softened uncertain expression carved into his face like a memory of tenderness he didn’t know how to hold. His eyes followed her with admiration, almost holy.
Words. For so long, there had been only one that mattered, Victor. But the second word he ever truly spoke felt gentler on his tongue, as if it belonged there. Elizabeth. Her hands were warm against his fingers. He looked down at them as though afraid the warmth might fade.
❝I . . . ❞ The words he’d learned, fought for, practiced in the lonely dark or with his long gone friend had all abandoned him in this moment. ❝I am lost, Elizabeth.❞ He said her name again, clearly this time, like he wanted to prove he could. He didn’t move despite her kindness, her voice offering him comfort he didn’t believe he deserved. ❝My pain is not on existence in this plane of my existence,❞ he murmured, ❝It does not hurt, but I can feel as it fades.❞