"Jinx Blackwood is now associated with Subdivision Zero," my mother states with careful neutrality. "It's now your team's duty to extract or eliminate depending on the circumstance of feral activity. The choice will be left to you."
She turns away, steps carrying her back toward the hallway with measured grace that speaks of years of careful control.
"Y-You're going to abandon her there?!” Dante's protest carries raw emotion that makes my chest ache. “She went there to spare Nyx!"
"It's not my duty to stop anyone from choosing their path," she declares, looking back over her shoulder to meet my gaze with the rest of my men.
The sadness in her eyes cuts deeper than any words could reach, making me wonder what history lies between her and the twin I never knew existed.
This woman who's supposed to be our Mother.
"Jinx has chosen to walk her path. Now it's her turn to tell her story and determine whether her sacrifice was worth fighting for."
Those final words hang in the air as she departs, leaving silence heavy with implications.
Though I've just gained freedom I never expected, though a happy ending seems suddenly within reach, one thought burns through everything else:
At what cost?
Jinx understood this truth.
Now it falls to me to honor the cost of that understanding – whatever price such knowledge might ultimately demand.
I swallow the lump in my throat, turning my attention back to my men as the echoing of the door closing hums through the atmosphere.
One look at each of them tells me they’ve already made their decision, but they’re giving me the opportunity to lead.
To make our choice as a pack.
"We’re going back,” I vow with affirmation. “We’re retrieving Jinx Blackwood and the Alphas of Subdivision Zero. By any means necessary.”
Survive, Jinx.
I’m coming back for you.
F.I.N.
One chapter ends, another one begins.
