On the way to the prison, they stared out the same window, silent, but together.
When they arrived, Kira walked into the prison with her eyes dry and her chin level. The Phaedra definitely watched on the cameras, and she didn't show him any weakness. Accepting her uniform, she stepped into her prison cell once more and closed the door.
Zayne placed his hand on the cold wall. After a few minutes, he entered and found Kira crossing her arms in front of the window. They'd stood here so manytimes before wearing their uniforms, but it felt entirely different now, as if they'd become two different people in their time away. As much as each of them had changed, they'd also changed their relationship.
Only debris remained of the prison walls between them.
“Rest,” Zayne said. “I'll be back soon.”
Even though he knew her heart was shattering into countless pieces, Kira smiled with life and defiance and power blazing from her stare.
The door closed, and it ripped his soul from him, trapping it within those walls with her.
Running hurt after taking all those hits from Father, but Mom needed him. So after leaving the Rail, he didn't stop until he reached her on the porch swing.
She didn't look at him, and he wondered if she hated him for failing Kira so badly.
“Mom.” He walked closer. “Are you okay?”
A wine glass dangled so precariously from the loose grip of her fingertips that it looked as if it would fall at any moment. “What's the plan?”
“I don't know, but you need to be careful.”
“Don't worry.” The torchlight glowed red against her vacant stare. “I'll stay here in your father's prison where I'm safe and ineffectual.” She lifted her glass to her mouth and drank without taking her gaze off the mountains. Silence engulfed them, wine dangling once more.
Words clawed at Zayne's throat, struggling to break free from the tight vice. “I'm not done yet. I won't be done until it's handled.”
“I don't doubt that. It's what scares me most.”
Glancing around, he knelt in front of his mom and hoped he spoke so quietly that no one could hear. “She's strong. Trust her.”
A soft hand slid over his face. “I'm proud of you. You've come so far.”
Not nearly enough. “One day I'll do something worth making you proud. For now, keep your faith. I need it.”
“You always have my faith.” She kissed his forehead. “I love you, baby.”
“Love you too. I won't let you down. Please take care of yourself. I know your heart is broken.”
She nodded. Then, as he started to step away, a strong voice reached out to him.
“Don't let them kill our girl.” Glassy tears shone with the fire in her stare. “You hear me?”
His heart pounded, maybe so hard Kira felt it halfway across the city, where he'd left it broken with her.
“I hear you.”
Zayne struggled to sleep all night, kept awake by dread and planning.
The path to Kira's freedom was blocked by that stretch of mountains and all the drones and sensors forming an impenetrable prison wall. But if they traveled around the mountains and avoided it, they may find an easier route. The elder in Kallum heard rumors about tunnels out in the desert through the Ruins. Traveling there may add a week to the journey, but it gave them hope, at least.
Or maybe he'd convince Major Tyndale to find a pilot and jet for him. Someone in this empire had to be capable of and willing to fly Kira to safety.
After spending half the night unable to sleep, he finally snagged a few hours until an emergency alert blared from his phone early in the morning.
Zayne ran into his closet and ripped a uniform down, nearly tripping from rushing. He called the driver he hadn't used in three years and told him to drive however fast he needed to get Zayne to the location on his phone.
“It's been a long time, Sergeant Riven.”
