Stay A Little Longer

Esme couldn't quite understand what compelled her to embrace him so suddenly. It wasn't planned, but the moment felt inevitable, and his instinctive stillness from the unexpected contact was understandable.

Perhaps it was because, deep down, she sensed he desperately needed it.

The way he clutched the pendant, her heart nearly stopped at the thought of him damaging it. That pendant wasn't an object to toss around; it was formed from his own magical core — half of his very soul embedded within it.

If he had crushed it, the consequences would have been dire, wouldn't they?

The weight of that realization, and the fact she had almost thrown away something so significant if it wasn't for Kangee, made her grip tighten around him.