thirty-one
Memories clung to Kira as she struggled her way back to consciousness. There was shock on the faces of those around her as she rolled onto her side from where she’d landed.
“Tin Man?” Kira asked, not caring what those around them thought.
Kira should have been the one in that drone. She was the reason he had to live the way he did.
The shame and guilt choked her.
If not for her, he could be normal.
“I forgot that. You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen,” Jin reminisced. “An avenging goddess that I’d given up hoping for.”
Kira’s gaze dropped. She didn’t deserve that praise.
“Don’t regret it,” Jin told her in a fierce voice. “If this was the price for saving you, it’s one I was and will forever be willing to pay.”
Tears threatened.
“Besides, we had an amazing life all things considered,” Jin said in a cheerful voice Kira didn’t deserve.
She forced back the desire to cry. “You’re right. We did.”
They’d built a legend for themselves. Together. If he thought the loss of a biological body was a trade he could live with to have all that, it wasn’t her place to argue.
“Does that answer your question?” Pallas asked Jarek. “Jin’s soul ending up in the drone was an accident of his own doing. A tragic result of him trying to save her life.”
Jarek considered the floor, his hair hiding his expression.
“Kashori will side with the two souled,” a woman spoke when the silence lingered.
“As will Luatha,” Liara declared.
Asanth waved a hand as he stared at Alexander. “If it will help us keep ties with our lost ones, we are willing to change our stance as well.”
“You have my answer already,” Harlow told Eurus when he looked at him.
The Overlord of Danai sat back in his chair with a dissatisfied expression that said he knew he’d lost the battle.
With four of the five major Overlords siding with Kira and Jin, no amount of arguing on his part would turn the tide.
Eurus looked at Jarek. “And you?”
The inquisitor finally raised his head, meeting Eurus’s gaze. “I will rescind my request for judgment—for now.”
“Yes!” Elena shouted from where she and Wren had remained when the majority of the room cleared out.
She and a few others, including Finn and Raider, had managed to be exempted from the eviction because of their ties to Kira.
The other Tuann who’d remained, Kira was less happy about, but she decided to concentrate on what was important.
They’d won. It was hard to believe.
Eurus waved a hand, banishing the cage of light containing Jin.
He shot forward with a whoop, crashing into Kira’s arms.
“Isn’t this disappointing?” Pallas observed Kira and Jin from far too close a distance. A fact that was slightly concerning since neither of them had been aware he’d moved. “I was looking forward to escorting you home.”
