I can’t regret this. I won’t.Whatever this new dynamic was between her, Fenn, and Kaelith—she would fight for it just as fiercely as she fought for Fang Unit. No matter how twisted or strange their bond had become, she wasn’t about to lose either of them.
But there was uncertainty, too. The looming shadow of Skarn’s horde still hung over them all, the war teetering on the brink of chaos. And beneath that, there was something darker. Something she still couldn’t name, lurking behind the veil of everything that had happened.
What if this is just the beginning?
Fenn’s voice broke the silence, pulling her from her thoughts. “We should move,” he said, his tone steady but distant, as if he, too, was struggling with what had just transpired. “The Regiment can’t hold out much longer. I need to order their retreat.”
Rynna nodded, feeling the pressure of his words settle beneath her skin. She stole a glance at Kaelith, expecting his usual smirk or snide comment, but instead, he was quiet, his eyes meeting hers with something she couldn’t quite place. Resolve? Acceptance? Whatever it was, it was new. Unnerving.
He straightened up from the wall, his serpentine grace barely restrained, and Rynna felt a tremor of nervousness curl in her stomach.What happens now?
Her heart clenched as she realized the truth.
She might just burn the world down herself to protect them both. To keep them.
So be it.
“Taren.” Her voice was stronger than she felt. “We need to get to Fang Unit. We’ll need everyone for whatever comes next.”
Taren wiped his mouth, still glaring at Kaelith with obvious distaste.
“Right.” He moved past them toward the lab’s door. “Bran and Elara are both fighting on the northern front. We’ll get word to them and determine a place to meet.”
The mention of her old unit stirred a familiar warmth in Rynna’s gut—hope. Despite the tension, the darkness, and the uncertainties swirling around them, Fang Unit was still out there. They were still her people, her family, too. And no matter what horrors awaited them outside, they would face it together.
“Rynna,youknowIlove you, right?” Josh murmured, his hands cupping her cheeks with a gentleness that always caught her off guard.
He leaned in, touching a soft kiss to her forehead.
“You love everybody, Josh. It’s your whole thing.” Her eyes fluttered shut as she savored the contact.
Pulling back just enough to meet her gaze, a low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “No pressure in that, huh?”
“You know what I mean.”
He nodded, the smile on his lips lingering, shaped by the years they had spent circling this very argument.
“And you know what I mean,” he said quietly. “You’re special to me. I know you. Even the pieces you hide from yourself. And I love you.”
They stood shoulder to shoulder at the end of the world, silence stretched tight between them. The desert sprawled, beyond them, endless and empty, its dunes rising like the bones of some ancient god. Wind skimmed the surface, scattering fine dust over their boots.
She stared out with him, struggling to reconcile his certainty with the monster she barely held at bay. How could anyone claim to love her, when blood and death coated her every step? And yet, when she looked at him, really looked, she saw no hesitation. Only truth.
And in his eyes, the world shifted. Something unseen unfurled inside her. It wasn’t pain, or power, or anything she recognized. Just a strange softening, as if the air itself leaned in and settled beneath her skin. His presence wrapped around her in something tender and unbearably real.
Without understanding why, her fists relaxed. She didn’t know what it meant, only that he had reached her. And something in her… reached back.
“You don’t have to go.” The words pulled from a place, raw and frightened.
His fingers fell from her cheeks, gliding down her arms until they caught her hand. He held it, giving a quiet squeeze. Then his focus moved past her, settling on the horizon stretched wide and burning beneath the weight of the sun.
Wind tugged at his shoulder-length hair, the heat already rising, already burning red into the tops of his cheekbones. He rolled his shoulders, adjusting the pack until it settled more evenly across his back.
“This journey is necessary.” He faced her one last time. “I don’t fully understand it, but I need to do this. There’s something in the desert. It’s calling me. Whatever’s out there, I have to face it. For me. For everyone.”
“Fuck everyone else, Josh. They don’t deserve you.” She couldn’t look at him. “Come home.”
He smiled in response—that same soft pull of the mouth that had undone her a thousand times before. He drew her in, arms firm around her, and she let herself sink into him, his scent filling her nose. She didn’t close her eyes, just held on to the feel of him while she still could.
