Three minutes.
In three minutes, she would be able to walk out of this tower for the first time in her life.
Her knees went weak. She would have fallen if Baylin hadn’t been there, catching her, steadying her against his chest.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You all right?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice came out shaky. “I’ve wanted this for so long. Dreamed about it. Imagined what it would feel like. And now that it’s actually happening...”
“It’s terrifying?”
“Yes.”
He tilted her chin up, making her meet his eyes. “Good. That means you understand what you’re choosing. That you’re taking it seriously.” He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “But you’re not choosing alone. And you’re not facing it alone. Whatever’s out there—we’ll handle it together.”
“Promise?”
“I already told you. You’re my mate. That’s not just a word—it’s a vow. The most binding one my kind can make.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I will never abandon you, Liora. Never.”
She believed him.
Not because the words were pretty or because she wanted them to be true, but because she’d seen the way he looked at her, feltthe way he held her, witnessed the lengths he’d gone to for her freedom. This wasn’t infatuation or manipulation or convenient timing. This was something deeper—something that had roots reaching down into the bedrock of who they both were.
She rose on her toes and kissed him.
It was softer than their earlier kisses, gentler. A seal on a promise. An acknowledgment of everything they were about to become to each other.
When she pulled back, his eyes were bright with emotion he didn’t try to hide.
“External containment protocols have been deactivated,” Ari announced. “All primary access points are now available for use.”
She took a deep breath.
She looked around the workshop—at the window seat where she’d spent countless hours watching the world she couldn’t touch, at the sensor cluster that had been her most constant companion, at the books and equipment and familiar objects that had defined her existence for twenty-one years.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For everything.”
“You are welcome,” ARIS replied. “Now go. See the world you have wondered about for so long. And when you are ready...”
“I’ll come home.”
“Yes.” The voice was soft, almost tender. “Come home.”
He took her hand.
Together, they walked towards the stairs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The stairs descended in a spiral that Baylin had climbed only once before, when the tower first let him inside. Now each step down felt like a countdown—to freedom and a future he couldn’t quite see the shape of yet.
But Liora’s hand was warm in his.
She hadn’t let go since they left the workshop, her fingers threaded through his with a grip that wasn’t quite desperate but wasn’t casual either. Pip rode on her shoulder, his luminous eyes darting around at familiar walls that somehow looked different now that they were no longer barriers.
The ground level materialized around them, all stone floors and sealed doors and the faint hum of technology hidden beneath ancient-looking surfaces. But now the machinery was moving, systems activating, lights flickering to life along pathways that led towards the outside world.
“Exit pathways are now accessible,” ARIS announced.
