Which they are.
Which they always were.
We stay there, huddled in the wreckage, the four of us clinging like the universe is trying to tear us apart and we refuse to let go.
Kelli pulls back just enough to look at me.
Tears shine on her dirty cheeks, but her smile.
Gods, her smile.
It’s pure steel and sunlight.
"You came for me," she whispers.
I brush the hair from her face, rough and shaking.
"I’ll always come for you," I say.
"And next time?"
Her voice wobbles.
"There won’t be a next time," I growl, pressing my forehead to hers. "I’m not losing you again."
Not to Petru.
Not to fate.
Never.
Around us, the city howls and shudders.
Hunters still out there.
Blood still in the air.
But in this broken moment.
In this breath, we’re whole.
And gods help anyone who tries to take that from us now.
CHAPTER 26
KELLI
We don’t waste time after the reunion.
Can’t.
Traz grabs my hand so tight it damn near cuts off circulation, dragging me through the crumbling alleys toward the hangar where Silpha said the freighter would dock.
Aria clings to his chest.
Joren runs, panting, at my side.
The city howls behind us.
