Vivian.
My chest hurts so much that I feel like I can’t breathe. Nevada has my letters for Vivian and Korzyn, but…
Rakiz said Korzyn is okay. He said the last time he saw him, he was fighting on the front lines. If he doesn’t make it in time, at least I’ll know he survived.
Arix will stay in place—his army cutting down any Dokhalls who still think to attack.
And Vivian…
It doesn’t seem real. The fact I’ll likely never see her again.
I feel like a zombie as I hug Alexis, Zoey, and Ivy. All of them have tears streaming down their faces, but my face is dry. I feel oddly numb—as if I’m not really here but I’m floating somewhere above my body, looking down as it goes through the motions.
I make my way to Ellie, leaning down and giving her a hug. She lets out a sob, and Terex wraps his arm around her, his face hard. I nod at him, and he nods back as I smile at their tiny son.
“He’s beautiful.”
Nevada finishes her goodbyes with the other women and stalks toward me. “I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
“Right back atcha.” My eyes are wet now, but I hold back the tears.
Charlie and Dragix are next. Charlie is pale as she stares at the ship. They’ve decided not to come with us—unwilling to risk their baby—but I know she’s wondering if she’s made the right choice.
“You have family here,” I whisper in her ear as I hug her. “Your baby will be so, so loved.”
She smiles at me, her eyes sparkling with tears, and Dragix slaps me gently on the shoulder.
Korzyn bursts through the trees, and I let out a strangled sound from somewhere in my throat. He looks like he’s been bathing in blood, but we stare at each other, neither of us able to make the first move.
“It’s now or never,” Nevada murmurs, and I jolt into action.
Korzyn strides toward me, wrapping me in his arms. I manage to hold back the sobs that want to escape from my chest, breathing in the scent of him beneath the blood and dirt.
Our kiss is gentle, tender, and far too short. Nevada tugs on my arm, and I give him one last shaky smile. He nods back at me.
Time to go.
I just need to take the first step. And then the next. After that, my body will be in motion, and it’ll be easier to keep walking.
I turn, following Blaire. Her face is wet, and one of Rakiz’s warriors curses and stalks away.
I hadn’t realized she was seeing anyone.
One step.
Two steps.
I can do this. Just keep moving.
You’re making a mistake.
A huge, glorious, unfixable mistake.
A mistake you’ll regret every day for the rest of your life.
You’ll look back and remember this moment.
You’ll wish with everything in you that you could turn back time.
I glance back at Korzyn. He’s standing by the others, face blank, shoulders back, head raised. But his eyes…
He nods at me, pretending it’s okay. Pretending he understands.
I don’t even understand.
I can hear the whoops of the other women as they walk up the metallic silver ramp, the celebrations already beginning.
I’ve never felt less like celebrating in my life.
Korzyn’s eyes are empty…remote. His voice rumbles through my head.
When you walk onto that spaceship, don’t look back. Don’t hesitate even once. Because if you do, I won’t be able to let you go. I find that it’s…important to me that you get what you want after you fought so hard for it.
Both of us are secretive, impossible for most people to understand. And yet he’s always had the uncanny ability to know what I’m thinking.
And I’ve always been able to tell what he’s feeling.
I stop walking.
Hope flares in his eyes.
You liar. You were willing to let me go—not because you wanted a temporary mate but because it was what I wanted.
I turn, ignoring the gasps that sound. Distantly, I can hear Zoey let out a choked sob, but I only have eyes for the man who makes me feel completely, undeniably out of control.
In all the best ways.
I touch my face, staring at my hand as I realize it’s wet.
And then I let out a sob.
I’m suddenly sprinting toward him. His mouth drops open, shock and joy painted across his face.
Get ready for a long life of making that exact expression.
He takes three huge steps toward me, and then I’m pressed against his hard chest, sobbing against his mouth as he kisses me, his arms clamped around me like he’ll never let me go.
Because he won’t.
It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know I should want to get on that ship. It’s not too late for me to change my mind. To go with the other women and get the revenge I so desperately want.
“I’ll go with you,” Korzyn suddenly says, and I blink up at him.
“What?”
“You want to go, we’ll go. Both of us. Now.”
He gently pushes me aside and takes my hand, and within seconds, I’m trotting next to him toward the ship.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
He glances at me and slows, coming to a stop at whatever he sees on my face.
“I can’t let you do this,” I say.
He raises his hand to my cheek, his eyes warm. “You want me enough to stay with me.”
“I do.” I take a deep breath. “I’m in love with you.”
His smile is both joyous and uncertain, as if he’s been given a beautifully wrapped gift but he’s too scared to open it in case it’s a trick. “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you chasing your cousin with a pillow,” he says, and I let out a wet laugh. “I don’t care where we are, as long as I’m with you.”
“I’m staying. We’re staying. I…thought I was doing the right thing, but if it was the right thing, my intuition wouldn’t have been
