“Yes, ma’am,” one of them replied instantly.
Andrea didn’tlook back.
As the elevator doors slid closed behind her, her eyes glittered—not with sorrow, but purpose.
There would be no mourning.
Only momentum.
Because with the right funding, and fresh blood, The Founders would rise again.
And this time, nothing—not even love—would stand in her way.
Upstate New York:
The fire crackled softly, casting flickering gold light across the circle of friends gathered around it. The stars above twinkled like fireflies scattered across a velvet sky. The scent of pine, smoke, and roasted marshmallows lingered on the air, warm and familiar.
Kiki leaned into Nikos’s side on the double-glider bench Lucas and Cole had drug over earlier while Nikos and Markos built a fire. Her cheek nestled against his chest. She listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath her ear.
His arm wrapped around her shoulder. His fingers traced slow, tender patterns over her skin, grounding her in the here and now. It was incredible what a few hours could make.
The men were laughing—deep belly laughs and dry mutters that trailed off in exhausted amusement. Even Markos cracked a rare smile as Cole and Lucas traded jabs over who had looked more shocked when Mak and Teriff first appeared.
No one dared mention Harlem who had disappeared shortly after the last of Benoit’s men had been detained. Kiki half expected the unusual man to materialize like an apparition.
She looked up when footsteps crunched softly in the dark.
Cosmos stepped into the light with Teriff and Mak flanking him, the two towering aliens pulled another round of amused jokes from the men. All three were covered in flecks of dirt and ash, looking like they’d just walked off the set of a sci-fi war film.
Cosmos exhaled a long breath and released a tired sigh. “Well… Avery and the rest of my team, along with an unnamed government agency that seems to know more than they should thanks to RITA, have successfully cleared the area.”
Angel arched an eyebrow, lifting a glass of whiskey. “Touché! How did Avery explain all the dead bodies?”
Cosmos gave him a lopsided grin. “What dead bodies?”
Kiki’s eyes flashed to the massive alien to Cosmos’s left when he grinned and patted the alien weapon strapped across his chest. Nikos muttered a curse and pulled her tighter against him.
“No sense in advertising what’s happened here anymore than the locals are already curious about,” Cosmos added.
Cole muttered to Lucas, “Mental note—never, ever piss off the aliens.”
Lucas nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I like my limbs where they are.”
Teriff slapped Cosmos’s shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance. “Tonight’s excitement has made me horny. It’s date night. Tilly says date nights are important and should never be missed.”
Cosmos groaned. “TMI, Teriff, TMI.”
Laughter rippled through the group.
A shimmer sparked in the air as a familiar portal swirled open behind them. The men collectively leaned forward again, their expressions shifting from awe to waryanticipation.
Cosmos sighed and motioned. “Go on, you two. I’ll catch up.”
“Not happening. Terra made me promise to keep you safe and bring you home… in one piece,” Mak grumbled with a piercing glare.
Cosmos gave the group a crooked grin and shrugged. “I better go. Date night. I’ll get RITA to answer the rest of your questions.”
The silence that followed as the trio disappeared as suddenly as they appeared earlier was broken by Markos, who turned toward Kiki.
