He squeezed her hand gently.
"Tomorrow night I'm going into the Veil," Nicholas continued. "I'm going to find you. I'm going to anchor you. And I'm going to trade my life so you can live. Because Lilith....you deserve to live. You deserve to have a full life free from curses and covenants and supernatural politics. You deserve to be happy."
His voice caught.
"I'm not going to lie and say I'm not afraid," Nicholas said. "I am. I'm terrified of dying. Of ceasing to exist. Of permanent ending. But I'm more afraid of a world where you stay dead. Of living the rest of my life knowing I could have saved you but chose not to. That fear....it's worse than death."
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
