Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

flames and swallowing a million more. He’s staring at me
like he’s never seen me before. I want to wash my soul in
the bottomless blue of his eyes.
He leans in until his forehead rests against mine and our
lips still aren’t close enough. He whispers, “How are you?”
and I want to kiss every beautiful beat of his heart.
How are you? 3 words no one ever asks me.
“I want to get out of here,” is all I can think of.
He squeezes me against his chest and I marvel at the
power, the glory, the wonder in such a simple movement.
He feels like 1 block of strength, 6 feet tall.
Every butterfly in the world has migrated to my stomach.
“Juliette.”
I lean back to see his face.
“Are you serious about leaving?” he asks me. His fingers
brush the side of my cheek. He tucks a stray strand of hair
behind my ear. “Do you understand the risks?”
I take a deep breath. I know that the only real risk is death.
“Yes.”
He nods. Drops his eyes, his voice. “The troops are
mobilizing for some kind of attack. There have been a lot of
protests from groups who were silent before, and our job is
to obliterate the resistance. I think they want this attack to
be their last one,” he adds quietly. “There’s something huge
going on, and I’m not sure what, not yet. But whatever it is,
we have to be ready to go when they are.”
I freeze. “What do you mean?”
“When the troops are ready to deploy, you and I should be
ready to run. It’s the only way out that will give us time to
disappear. Everyone will be too focused on the attack—it’ll
buy us some time before they notice we’re missing or can
get enough people together to search for us.”
“But—you mean—you’ll come with me . . . ? You’d be
willing to do that for me?”
He smiles a small smile. His lips twitch like he’s trying not
to laugh. His eyes soften as they study my own. “There’s