“You should’ve.”
She tenses.
I exhale, jaw tight.
“But I’m here now.”
Her hand stills.
I turn to her.
“She’s mine.”
She nods. “Ours.”
And I realize?—
This isn’t the end of anything.
It’s the beginning of everything I never thought I’d have again.
But the damage… it’s still bleeding.
CHAPTER 15
RYNN
The light sneaks in through the blinds like it knows it doesn’t belong here.
It cuts across my floor in long, golden stripes, glancing off the corner of the console, the crumpled shirt at the foot of the bed, the empty tea cup I never drank from. Everything feels… exposed. Like morning peeled back the safe layer of the night and left me naked in its wake.
Vael’s breathing is steady behind me. I hear it before I dare to turn. He’s awake. I can feel it. The weight of his stare presses between my shoulder blades like a brand.
I button my jacket slowly, fingers clumsy. It’s too quiet. The kind of quiet that means something’s coming.
“Rynn.”
One word.
I flinch.
“Don’t,” I mutter, still facing away. “Please, just—don’t start again.”
“You think we can ignore it? That I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen?”
“I’m not pretending. I’mmanaging.”
He rises from the bed. I hear the soft pad of his bare feet on the flooring. The rustle of fabric as he pulls on his shirt. I can almost map his path from sound alone. I’ve done it before.
“You kept her from me.”
I whip around. “Iprotectedher.”
His jaw ticks. His eyes are too clear. Too focused.
“You think hiding her was protection?”
“I think raising a half-Vakutan child on a human colony station where the Alliance runs bio scans every time a kid sneezes isasking for trouble.”
