Chapter Twenty-Six

Mika steels herself when Jamie arrives, and he tells her everyone at Nowhere House misses her. He says they are “leaving a window open,” meaning she will always be welcome if she chooses to return. Mika admits she could forgive the manipulation but fears not knowing what was real.

Jamie insists their feelings were real and explains their secrecy: after Mika warned that, without Lillian, the girls would need help maintaining the wards, they feared she might tell the Society. Mika recognizes she reacted from old wounds but says she would have kept the girls’ secret even knowing Lillian was gone.

Jamie confesses he had realized her trustworthiness weeks earlier but avoided it because she mattered too much. Mika admits she’s afraid to belong and be hurt. Jamie shares how Nowhere House healed him after trauma and frames love as a leap of faith only Mika can choose to make.

They pause for tea and light the mock fireplace, and Mika remembers a small kindness from Primrose, finding a glimmer of warmth in her past. They review Mika’s confounding potion plan to mislead Edward and laugh over the girls’ irreverent reactions to the truth about Lillian, easing the tension.

As the evening softens into intimacy and trust, Mika invites Jamie to bed. They consummate their relationship, choosing each other despite fear. Afterward, Jamie promises he is not going anywhere, and they settle together, newly resolved to face Edward tomorrow.