“The Kythrans want to help,” Zara said quietly. “They say they don’t have much time left in the mortal realm, but they are glad that there will finally be healing.”
Zara was still pressed against my side, and I could feel her shaking with relief and exhaustion and the aftermath of terror. “Rivers?” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Are you okay?”
“Define okay,” she said, her voice muffled against my shirt. “We just shut down a planetary weather control system, nearly died multiple times, and somehow convinced two species that have hated each other for generations to work together. I think I’m entitled to a minor breakdown.”
“Minor?”
“I’m being optimistic.”
Despite everything, I laughed. Trust Zara to maintain her sense of humor, even while processing trauma.
“We still need to find our crew,” I reminded her gently. “And get off this planet.”
“I know.” She pulled away to look up at me. “But first, we’re taking a moment to appreciate that we’re alive. That we succeeded. That we didn’t get killed by angry warriors or crushed by a collapsing tower due to unruly weather.”
“It’s a very good moment.” One I hadn’t been entirely sure we’d have.
“It is.” She rested her head back against my shoulder. “I’m really tired, Torven. I’m really,reallytired.”
“I know.” I held her closer, feeling my own exhaustion pulling at me. “But we’re almost done. Just a little further.”
Through the window, I could see the landscape outside the tower. It was still scarred and damaged, still showing the effects of millennia of atmospheric abuse. But the sky was clearing, the rain was normal, and somewhere in the distance, I could see the first hints of the sun breaking through to the tortured ground.
Life would return to a world that had been dying for so long.
It would take cycles, maybe tens of cycles, for the planet to fully heal. But itwouldheal. And the species that called it home would learn to work together instead of fighting. They’d have to, or risk falling back into the same patterns that had nearly destroyed them.
But that was a problem for tomorrow. For now, we’d saved a world. We’d proven that cooperation was paramount and that trust and sacrifice could overcome hatred and fear.
And we’d done it together. Just like the ancient engineers had planned.
I touched the raised scars on my mating marks and felt no regret. They were proof of what we’d accomplished, proof that love and partnership were worth any price.
“Ready to go find our crew?” I asked Zara.
She sighed but nodded. “Ready. And then, let’s go home.”
Home. The word had never sounded so good.
CHAPTER 22
ZARA
The first sign that we were approaching our crew’s location was the emergency beacon signal that Torven’s scanner picked up the day after we’d shut down the weather network. The signal was strong, clear, and unmistakably Destran in origin.
“That’s Henic,” Torven said, relief evident in his voice. “I’d know his beacon signature anywhere.”
We were traveling in one of the D’tran crawlers, accompanied by Vikkat and four of his warriors. The Kythrans had remained at Vikkat’s fortress, recovering. After learning the truth, and seeing the newly cleared storms, the D’tran welcomed the Kythran. I was just relieved to have a break in translating for them. My head finally felt a little more normal.
The landscape outside was already changing. In just three days, I’d seen the first hints of recovery. The sky was consistently blue now, with normal clouds instead of the toxic masses that had dominated before. Rain fell in predictable patterns, nourishing rather than poisoning. And mostremarkably, I’d spotted tiny green things pushing up through the tortured soil.Plants. Actual living vegetation returning to a world that had been struggling for so long.
It was beautiful. It was also bittersweet, because every hour that passed without word from Cleo made my chest tighter with worry.
The crawler crested a rise, and there they were. Six figures standing near a structure that they’d clearly constructed from debris. They had managed to trek to this point and meet up, making collecting them easier as they weren’t split up anymore. As we got closer, I could make out details. Henic’s distinctive build, Benda’s graceful movements, other crew members whose names I’d only learned in passing during our brief time on the ship.
But no Cleo. No sign of the two Destrans who’d been in her pod.
The crawler had barely stopped before I was out and running, Torven close behind me despite his still-healing injuries. Henic met us halfway, his weathered face split in a grin I’d never seen before.
