chapter 39

Katya I wake to fingers gently moving my hair aside. Opening my eyes, I find Mateo leaning over me. I smile up at him, and he leans down, pressing his lips to mine softly before gently nipping my bottom lip. “Morning,” I greet him, and he chuckles. “It’s the middle of the day,” he whispers before fiddling with something. I look down to see what he is doing, but I can only see his hands underneath my chin. He pulls them away, and a chain scrapes against my neck as he turns it, making me look down to see my pumpkin necklace. “You found it?” I whisper, rubbing my thumb over the gold pumpkin, relief floods me that they found the last thing my mother ever gave me. Looking down at it, I became choked with emotion, I thought it was funny when she gave it to me, but now it was my most cherished possession representing my parents. “One of the men on patrol found it the other day and gave it to Ezra,” he replies before pulling on the thin chain and holding up a blue jewel that had been added to