26|Addendum

~Klaus~

Since I met Rylee two years ago, her resilience never fails to amaze me. Tonight, she raised the bar so high, slapping how frail I was on my face.

We’ve been in the water for twenty minutes, swimming in the dark, fighting our way against the ice-cold water.

I didn’t hear Rylee complain. Her body was a lot smaller than mine. We shouldn’t be in an even field, not because she’s a woman, but because I thought I was a lot tougher than her. I’ve never been more wrong in all my life.

Hands down, this woman is the toughest I have ever met, strongest even.

“We’re close,” her voice shivered. It was the first indication that this situation was affecting her as much.

But fuck, she can still think straight, and she can still navigate in the dark when I can’t even speak in full sentences. I only hummed, pursuing her lead.

Like she said, we reached the riverbank two minutes later. It was the longest two minutes of my life.

The first thing Rylee did when we crawled up the banks was remove her