Raven had smiled slowly, her processing delayed but genuine. Hey, Mari. You look terrible.
I’d laughed. It came out wet. Yeah.
Lucas had stood, crossed to me, and pulled me into a hug—not gentle but hard. The kind that said, I’m furious and relieved, and I love you anyway.
Don’t do that again, he’d said into my shoulder.
Do what?
Forget you have people who aren’t them. He’d pulled back, gesturing to the heirs, not hostile, just honest. We’re still here, Mari, even when you’re saving the world.
Something in my chest had cracked. I know. I’m sorry.
Don’t be sorry. Raven’s voice was slow but certain. Just remember.
I’d nodded because I couldn’t speak past the tightness in my throat.
Lucas’s hand had squeezed mine once. Then he’d let go and returned to Raven’s bedside.
Now go rest, he’d said. All of you. You look like death.
Feel like it too, Elio had muttered.
Now we were here together, not celebrating, just… present.
I didn’t say anything for a long time. Neither did they.
My hands were still shaking. Not from magical exhaustion—that was settling, slowly, the way it always did when the work finally ended. This was different. This was the kind of shaking that came from holding something too heavy for too long and then being told you could put it down.
I couldn’t put it down. That was the thing.
Scout pressed against my collarbone.
Prague, I said into the silence.
No one answered.
Twenty people, I said. We sealed them in.
Silence held.
Keane broke it first. We made the right call.
Did we?
Cyrus didn’t hesitate. Yes.
I know, Elio said softly from the floor.
Why?
Because we needed to see the cost, needed to know what choosing the system meant. His light blue eyes held unusual seriousness. We needed to remember it so we never make that choice lightly.
Silence settled.
Vienna, Mumbai, and Cairo worked because we abandoned Prague, Keane said, his analytical voice making it bearable. Your cycle authority, split across four points, wasn’t sufficient.
We chose sealing, I said.
