"Evie, if you ever get taken from me again, you better know that I'll be coming for you." He cupped my face with a bloodstained hand. "So you stay the hell alive! You doan do like Clotile, you doan take that way out. You and me can get through anything, just give me a chance"--his voice broke lower--"just give me a chance to get to you." He buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. "There is nothing that can happen to you that we can't get past."