I don’t look up. Just keep wiping.
She kneels beside me without a word. Her hand finds mine. Warm, steady.
“Voltar,” she says.
I stop moving.
Her thumb brushes over my knuckles. “You’re humming.”
I blink. Didn’t even notice. Low, guttural—a war chant from Varkar-9. Something we sang before breaching enemy gates.
I close my eyes. “Force of habit.”
She leans closer. “Whatever happens, we do this together.”
I finally meet her gaze.
So much fire in her. It steals my breath sometimes.
I nod. “You’re the bravest damn human I’ve ever met.”
She smiles, soft and crooked. “You say that like you’ve met a lot of humans.”
“I have.” I run my thumb along her wrist. “None like you.”
She swallows, lashes fluttering. “You scared?”
“Terrified.”
She laughs, just once. “Good. Me too.”
We sit like that, armor and skin, war and warmth.
Two broken things finding meaning in each other.
I’ve never wanted peace.
Never trusted it.
But with her hand in mine, I can almost believe it’s possible.
Almost.
Because right now, we’re not fighting for survival.
We’re fighting for something bigger.
Something worth bleeding for.
And that changes everything.
CHAPTER 17
SABLE
We pull up in the skimmer just past midnight, gliding through the fog like ghosts. The warehouse looms in the distance—old, rusted, silent. It’s the kind of place that smells like old blood and burnt circuitry. My boots hit the cracked pavement first, and the chill creeps straight up my spine.
Voltar doesn’t speak. He doesn’t have to. The tight clench of his jaw says it all.
