"You building a fortress, little man?" Traz asks.
Joren nods fiercely.
"Gotta keep the bad guys out."
"Damn right," Traz says, helping him restack the boxes higher, stronger.
"And the dragons!" Aria shouts, waving her arms.
"Dragons too," Traz agrees solemnly, like she just gave him military orders.
I lean back against the wall, watching them.
Something blooms warm in my chest.
Big.
Bright.
Something I thought I'd buried a long time ago.
Hope.
Later, after the twins crash out in the little sleep nook we rigged up, I sit at the table, fiddling with a busted comm unit.
Traz slumps into the seat across from me, dragging a hand through his messy hair.
"You look dead," I say.
He grins.
Slow and lazy.
"Feel alive."
I toss a piece of wire at him.
He catches it easy.
"Hard to believe, isn’t it?" I mutter.
"What?"
I meet his gaze.
"That we made it."
He’s quiet a long beat.
Then he nods, slow.
"We’re here," he says.
"That’s what matters."
I set the comm unit down and rest my chin on my hands.
"Think about what’s next?"
