The guards slump. I hear bodies hit metal with wet, heavy sounds.
Dead. Both dead in seconds.
No… What?
Footsteps approach from the front. Boots on metal. Purposeful. Coming for me.
This is it. Ambush. The Circle of Fire taking their shot before the Syndicate can claim me? Or some other faction that wants hybrid blood for their own purposes?
Hands grip the hood. Yank it off roughly.
Cold air and sudden light blind me. I blink, vision clearing in stages.
A man crouches in front of me. Blood at his temple. Bruises darkening his jaw. Eyes I know better than my own.
Luke!
My brain refuses to process it. He’s supposed to be dead. They said dawn. They said execution.
But he’s here. Real. Solid.Alive.
For several seconds, I’m frozen. Can’t do anything except stare.
Then reality slams through the shock.
“You’re alive.” My voice breaks.
He’s already working my restraints. Fingers quick and sure despite the blood crusting his knuckles.
“Not for long if we don’t move.”
The cuffs release with dual hisses. My wrists are raw, bleeding where metal bit deep. The sudden freedom makes me dizzy.
He pulls me upright. Strong hands that steady me when my legs threaten to fold.
“Can you walk?”
I don’t answer. Can’t form words.
Instead, I throw myself at him.
My hands fist in his stolen uniform. My face presses against his chest, where I can feel his heartbeat, solid and real.
Luke goes rigid for half a second.
Then his arms come around me. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
I pull back just enough to look up at him. Blood on his cheek. Exhaustion carved into his features. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
The distance between us disappears as I wrap an arm around his neck and pull his face down to mine.
Our lips collide; hard, desperate, no finesse. Just raw need and relief crashing together. I taste copper from the cut on his lip, and I don’t care. I kiss him harder, deeper, pouring every ounce of terror and grief and desperate gratitude into it.
Luke freezes for one beat.
Then he kisses me back like he’s drowning and I’m air.
His hand cups my jaw, calloused fingers scraping gently against my skin even as his mouth claims mine with savage intensity. The other hand tangles in my hair, pulling me closer, angling my head so he can kiss me deeper. His breath comes ragged against my lips. Hot. Unsteady.
