Page 89 of Alien Assassin's Heir

She pouts, but when Kraj crouches beside us, his massive hand engulfing hers, she nods solemnly. Together, we watch it all burn.

At the edge of the launch pad, with the flames snapping behind us and the shuttle door yawning open, I turn to him. My voice is barely a whisper. “Are we really free?”

For a long moment, he doesn’t answer. His gaze drifts upward, toward the twin moons fading in the thinning clouds. His face is unreadable, carved by shadow and light. Then, slowly, he nods.

“As free as anyone ever gets.”

Something breaks loose in my chest. The fear doesn’t vanish, but it eases enough for me to breathe. I take his hand. Solie tugs on the other, her little fingers sticky with ash from touching the burned slates.

“Then let’s go.”

The shuttle hums as we step aboard. The air inside smells faintly of oil and old metal, but it feels like promise. Vale slides into the pilot’s chair, fingers dancing over controls.

The engines roar to life. The ground trembles beneath us.

I glance back one last time. Wildwood lies in the valley, quiet under the stars. Our old life—our heartbreak, our mistakes, our hiding—all of it left in smoke and ruins.

The shuttle rises. The moons slip away, swallowed by the black.

And stars. Endless, blazing, opening up before us like a door.

I squeeze Kraj’s hand until it hurts, Solie pressed between us, her laughter ringing bright.

I let myself believe. We’re not running anymore. We’re flying.