He smiled vaguely before it dropped from his face completely. “Why didn’t you tell Daxton who you really were?”
I hesitated, not sure how to put it into words. “Lila gave up her entire life for this rebellion. She risked everything time and time again. And maybe she had her moments of weakness, but we all do. I wanted to honor her. I wanted to make sure her name goes down in history as the reason this all happened. If I told the country who I really was—it wouldn’t matter that she started it. They would only remember that I finished it, and I couldn’t do that to her. She deserves to be remembered.”
Greyson took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped his eyes quickly. “Thank you. I know she would have appreciated it. And thought you were crazy for not wanting credit.”
“It’s not about the credit,” I said. “It’s about making a difference. And we all did that together.”
“We did. And even if everyone thinks you’re Lila, I can find a way to have you returned to your original appearance,” said Greyson. “We have all the doctors in the country at our disposal. I can make it happen.”
For months, I’d wanted nothing more than to look in a mirror and see my real face staring back. Round and freckled, with a button nose and dirty blond hair several shades darker than Lila’s. But I was more than my appearance. I was more than what people thought when they looked at me. And no matter whose face I wore, I would have to find a way to accept that.
“Kitty Doe is dead,” I whispered. “I’m Kitty Hart, and somehow, even though I shouldn’t be, I’m still here. And this is what I look like, scars and all. I don’t want to change a thing.”
“Okay,” he said softly, running his fingers through my hair. “You’re perfect exactly the way you are.”
I smiled again and let my eyes fall shut. “Damn straight.”
* * *
Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke with a jolt. A nurse stood over me in the dimly lit room, silently checking my vitals. When he noticed I was awake, he winced, clutching his tablet apologetically. “Are you sure youwouldn’t be more comfortable in your own bed, Miss Hart?” he said quietly. Beside me, Greyson had also fallen fast asleep.
“No, I’m good here,” I mumbled. “Can I have something to drink?”
He fetched me a glass of ice water, and I sat up. Swallowing was a torture unlike anything I’d ever experienced, but I managed to get some down by taking tiny sips. As soon as he was done checking me over, the nurse exited, leaving me alone in the darkness.
“How’s the throat?”
I jumped, nearly spilling the water all over my lap. Knox’s eyes were open, and he watched me from his position prone on the bed. “It’s fine,” I lied. “I’ll live. How’s your shoulder?”
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll live.”
We stared at one another for a long moment, and finally he cracked a grin.
“You look like hell.”
“And you don’t?” I said hoarsely. With effort, he sat up.
“No worse than you do. Come over here. I don’t want to wake Greyson.”
Reluctantly I untangled myself from my brother and crossed the room to sit in the chair beside Knox’s bed, shoving a small pillow behind my back. It wasn’t the most comfortable piece of furniture I’d ever encountered, but it would do. Being this close to Knox without the fear of Daxton killing us both felt like a dream, and given the fuzzy state of my mind, I wasn’t so sure it wasn’t. He was really here. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you werestill alive that whole time.”
“You figured it out well enough on your own,” he said. I glared at him, my cheeks burning.
“And I can’t believe you let me ramble on like that when you were listening the whole time.”
“Would it make you feel better if I said I wasn’t?”
“Were you?” I said cautiously, and he grinned.
“Of course I was. Had to make sure you two were all right.”
I pulled the pillow out from behind my back and hit him in the thigh. “You’re awful and I hate you.”
“Only one of those is true.” He reached for my hand with his good arm, his touch warm and heavy and comforting, and his expression softened. For a moment I thought I saw a flicker of something more, but it was too dark to be sure. “You did great, Kitty. I can’t tell you how proud I am.”
I didn’t know how to respond to sincerity from him. Not like this, not when I wasn’t prepared for the feelings coursing through me like lava, overwhelming my senses. Anger, relief, desire, pure and desperate joy—there were toomany to name, let alone make any sense of. So instead I replied like we always did, with just enough bite to let each other know we cared. “Of course you can’t, because that would be admitting I did something right for a change.”
Knox smirked, and though he could have let the moment pass, his thumb brushed against the back of my hand, sending sparks through me. “So what’s next, now that you’ve saved the world?”