Camila woke inside a cloud.

Tendrils of fog wrapped around the outside of her tent, hugging the firepit from the night before. A lone morning dove cooed a greeting, then fluttered off into the cold, damp air. The sun was obscured, hidden behind layers of fog, and the shadows were barely brighter than they had been during the night.

"Morning." Alex passed her a cup of hot coffee. "Rosa brought an enchanted coffee maker."

"Thank you. Good morning." Camila tried to keep a silly grin from her face. She failed miserably.

"You two are looking awfully chipper," Zora said. She caught Camila's eye, mouthed "details!", and then let them be.

"So, how have-"

"How'd you sleep?" Camila started, then stopped. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Oh, I was, um, going to ask how you slept." Alex nodded, scratching the back of his head.

She had barely slept. Her mind had refused to relax, bouncing from subject to subject like a caffeinated kid on a trampoline. From the upcoming date with Alex—who was planning it? What were they doing? What if it went horribly and she could never look him in the eye again?—to the admittedly more deadly problems in her life: the murderous centuries-old witch, the murderous centuries-old vampire, the volatile alliance with the Vindicators, and the rapidly fading spell concealing the mating mark.

"Good." Camila nodded, her head bobbing up and down. She took a sip of her coffee. "I slept good."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well... Not bad. We've got a lot going on right now, you know? How did you sleep?"

"We do," Alex said. "Oh. I slept good too."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Camila smiled. He looked nice this morning. Actually, he looked nice every morning. His eyes were blue as the sky, his cheeks were flushed, and the sleeves of the admittedly expensive sweatshirt they'd bought at the airport—a wrinkled blue thing that read 'I heart KC'—had been rolled up to show off his muscled forearms. 

She smiled. 

He smiled.

They glanced around, looking for something to talk about.

Before Camila could continue what was probably doomed to remain an awkward conversation, Rosa slung an enthusiastic arm over her shoulders, squeezing her neck just a little too tight.

"Hey! Good morning! How's it going?" Rosa trilled. "You ready for today?"

Camila nodded.

"Do you..." Rosa paused for dramatic effect. "....know what's going on today?"

Camila glanced at Alex. "We're going to find the Heart of Catalina?" she guessed.

"You're going to find the Heart of Catalina." Rosa grinned. "Isn't that fantastic? This way, if anyone gets brutally murdered, it's you!"

Alex stiffened beside her, shifting forward slightly so he stood between her and Rosa.

Camila frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah. Your ancestors are the ones who hid it in the caves. You've got to be a werewolf with royal blood to get in there." Rosa shrugged. "I'm sure it won't be too bad. I'll even let you have your daggers back."

Rosa waited expectantly.

"Thanks?" Camila said, the familiar weight of responsibility settling in her stomach.

"You're welcome! I make an effort to be generous and I really think it shows. You know-"

"You're so generous." Alex said, his teeth gritted in a smile that lasted only a second. "Could you give us a second?"

After Alex promised to make Rosa food for the next several days, a lengthy discussion of the enchanting powers of sheep guts, and more polite smiles than Camila ever used in court, Rosa blew them a kiss and went to bother Zora.

Camila hated goodbyes. She wanted to spend the last moments with a loved one smiling and laughing, every moment to be perfect, to be positive the entire time, but the very act of a goodbye made her smile weaken.

Alex held her, crushing her body to him like he never wanted to let go.

Zora hugged her too, whispering in her ear that this Catalina woman didn't stand a chance against Camila and her knives.

Declan didn't hug her.

Camila spoke softly. "There's something I have to tell you," she'd started, and the whole tale spilled out: Alex's injuries, the blood sucking scheme, the shock and surprise the next morning when she'd realized the mark had stayed.

She made sure they were sitting while they talked and she watched while Declan clenched the thick fabric of his sleeping bag tighter and tighter in his fist as she spoke. She knew he was angry—it radiated from him in waves—but he waited until she was done before speaking.

"Are you going to get rid of it?"

Camila shook her head. "We don't think we can. Right now, while we're dealing with Rosa and Dragomir, it's not a priority."

"You're supposed to be mine." His voice broke. "This is fucking stupid and it's going to ruin both our lives."

"Declan, I-"

"Get out."

His voice cut her to the bone, harsh and uncompromising. He didn't look at her.

She nodded briefly, glanced at him one last time—his hair tousled from sleep, his skin golden in the pale morning light, his green eyes burning into the tent floor—and paused at the tent flap.

"It did mean something," she said, one hand braced against the thin canvas wall. "It just wasn't right."

"I said get out."

She left.

 Declan did come out to see her leave, standing off to the side and glaring at anything that came too close. Fog still hung heavy in the air and Camila could barely see into the tunnel. Zora passed her a bag.

With genuine seriousness, she said, "I found you a bag of M&Ms. Use them wisely."

Inside was a collection of protein bars, two water bottles, her daggers, a sleeping bag, and a cluster of M&Ms inside a crumpled plastic bag.

With the same, grim seriousness, Camila nodded. "The M&Ms shall not go to waste."

Zora choked out a laugh. "Be careful, yeah?"

"I will."

She turned to Alex.

"Don't die, okay?" she said.

"You too." He managed a half-smile she suspected was entirely for her benefit. "There's a phone in the front pocket. I got Rosa to enchant it so it should work without service. Call me if you need anything or if you want to talk or just-" He let out a trembling breath.

"Of course." She wrapped her arms around him. "I'll be fine."

"And if you're not fine, I'll kill your friends!" Rosa proclaimed cheerily. "Just in case you were getting any ideas about running away or not bringing me the Heart. But I did lend you a nice jacket, so we're still besties, right?"

Camila barely heard her.

She pressed her body against Alex, closing her eyes, breathing in the moment. His touch was caring and cold, his muscled arms enveloping her like he was afraid she'd fall apart if he let go. Would she ever see him again? Would she ever see any of them again? She wondered how long she would last in the caves.

"Right?" Rosa snapped.

Camila took a deep breath and pulled away. She nodded, briefly, at Rosa and took a last look at the four of them.

Rosa glared with her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed that Camila's reply was not adequately appreciative. Declan had his jaw clenched and his arms crossed. Zora stared daggers at Rosa. And Alex couldn't seem to look away from Camila.

"Try not to kill each other," Camila said, wincing slightly.

There were a couple of sharp nods, an unclear grunt from Declan, and a confused head tilt from Rosa.

Camila waved.

And then, her backpack slung over her shoulder, a dagger clutched in her right hand, she stepped into the cave.

Bit of a short chapter today! We're gearing up for the finale—I'm still scrambling to figure out all the details—and I'm trying to just getting everything on the page as soon as possible! Thanks for sticking with this story for so long! Can you believe this is the forty third chapter?

Question: how do you handle goodbyes?

-Harley