Through smoke.
Through the wreckage of Silpha’s sacrifice.
We run.
Because she gave us this chance.
She bought us this breath.
She bought us this life.
And we won’t waste it.
CHAPTER 27
TRAZ
The ship’s engines roar under my boots, a low, angry hum that rattles my bones.
We made it.
Barely.
At a price I’m not sure I’ll ever stop paying.
I slump against the cold metal wall just inside the main hold, cradling Aria against my chest like she’s the last soft thing left in a world made of knives.
Joren clings to my leg, silent, his wide eyes locked on the cargo ramp as it seals shut behind us.
Behind him, behind all of us, Glimner burns.
Along with it is Silpha.
Kelli crouches nearby, arms wrapped around her knees.
She rocks slightly, not crying.
Not yet.
Too numb for it.
I know the feeling.
It’s sitting thick in my gut too.
A heavy, ugly knot I can’t shake loose.
"She saved us," Kelli says after a long beat, her voice barely a whisper.
"Yeah," I rasp.
I rub Aria’s back slow, mechanical.
Feel her shudder against me, small and scared but alive.
Because Silpha made it so.
Because she gave everything she had left so we could crawl out of that hellhole.
