I nod, but don’t climb up.
Lucien waits.
“Why did you make us sign those papers? You knew he’d be angry.”
He shrugs. “It wasn’t about you or him. I have to protect the land. It belongs to the San Isidro people and I can’t risk the government, no matter who’s in charge, getting control over it.”
I nod. “He didn’t say good bye. He was so angry.”
The flashlight dips, casting Lucien’s face in shadow. “He was angry with himself, and if it’s any consolation,” he says gently, “Julian is terrible at goodbyes.”
A broken sound escapes me. “That’s not a consolation.”
“No,” he agrees. “I expect it isn’t.”
I reach for the lowest rung and start climbing. Lucien follows behind me. The ladder rattles softly beneath our weight. My hands shake as I grip the metal bars, one after the other. Halfway up, my arms burn and my breath comes too fast. I have to pause.
Lucien steadies me with a hand on my lower back, solid and patient.
When we finally emerge into the open again, the night air hits me all at once. It’s warm, humid, and feels like a living thing.
We’re in a small clearing, far enough from the house that I can’t see it. A helicopter waits, rotors already spinning. Its lights are harsh and bright against the dark. Wind whips my hair around my face and stings my eyes.
Lucien steps aside. “This is where I leave you,” he says.
I stop short. I knew he would stay behind, but my chest tightens again. It’s another slight loss, stacked on top of too many already.
He watches me for a moment, then adds, “You’ll be safe from here.”
The word feels thin.
I hesitate, then ask the question I’ve been carrying like a stone in my chest. “Will he be okay?”
Lucien exhales slowly. “Julian survives,” he says. “That doesn’t mean he emerges intact.”
I nod, even though my vision blurs.
“Take care of yourself, Iris,” he adds. “You were never meant for our world. For his world.”
I think of Julian’s hands on my skin. His voice in the dark, thick with desire. The way he looked at me, like I was something dangerous and precious all at once. “And yet a part of me stays behind in your world,” I say, “with him.”
Lucien steps back, and I climb into the helicopter alone.
The door shuts with a heavy clang, sealing me inside. As the engine roars louder, its vibrations shudder through my bones.
The helicopter lifts and I press my forehead to the glass.
The jungle pulls away beneath me, endless and dark. Somewhere in that green-black expanse is the villa. Somewhere inside it is Julian, hating being legally bound to me.
The thought fractures something inside me, and a sharp pain stabs my chest as San Isidro disappears below me.
Less than two hours later, the mainland’s many lights appear below us and we soon land on the outskirts of an airfield.
I’m moved efficiently by people who move like military but don’t wear any uniforms. They’re clad entirely in black as the shuttle me out of the helicopter and into a waiting SUV with dark windows. After a short drive, I’m escorted onto a small private jet with its stairs already lowered.
No one asks me questions. No one explains anything.
They just gently guide me and I allow them to move me around like a doll.
