She cuts him off. “I just did.”
The room freezes.
She turns to me.
“You still want this?” she asks.
I don’t flinch.
“Yes.”
She nods.
Then looks at them.
“I stand with him.”
They stare.
They don’t laugh.
Not anymore.
Because they finally understand something dangerous.
We’re not asking.
We’rebuilding.
Fire burns best when it has something to protect.
CHAPTER 30
ISOLDE
The galaxy outside the viewport spins in slow, drowsy spirals—like even the stars have finally exhaled.
The cruiser is quiet.
Not the cold silence of fear, or the brittle hush of grief. No. This silence is warm, soft-edged. The kind that wraps around you like a blanket at the end of a long war.
Pyramus is asleep in the next cabin.
I double-check the locks. Triple-check Reflector’s posted outside with all sensors primed. He doesn’t question my overkill. He understands.
I step into the main quarters. Bare feet on cool alloy flooring. The hum of the ship’s systems low and steady beneath my toes, like a heartbeat finally finding rhythm again.
Garokk stands by the window, shirtless, his back to me.
Stars reflect off his scales, casting shimmer across his spine like a second skin.
I cross the room slowly.
No rush. No games.
Justus.
His shoulders tense before I touch him. Just the faintest twitch—like he still doesn’t quite believe I’m real. That this is real.
