Page 5 of Celestial Alphas (Nexus #2)

Chapter

Four

S everi was right, and I really dislike that fact. The trial begins today. I bet they can’t wait to get the monster out and on show for them all to have a common enemy. My door slams open in the early morning, I’m guessing, and I haven’t slept. I pull my knees up and crawl to the back of the bed as Paavo walks in, holding a pair of handcuffs. “I hate to break it to you—I’m not really into kinky shit like that with old men. Especially not my mate’s dad.”

He nearly chokes on thin air. “Don’t be so disgusting. Get up, put them on, and I won’t have to put any runes on you again.”

“You think that rune was something I should be scared of?” I laugh in his face until he goes a satisfying shade of red. Making small men angry should be a favourite game of mine—I always win. “That was nothing. You don’t know torture. I was kept by the Vian for years. I know exactly how many days I was there because each day actually hurt. I know exactly what actual torture is at the hands of someone that’s far better at it than you. That was just child’s play, nothing. Pathetic really.” I lean forward, my Nexus pushing the very limits of the magic in here so he can see her through my one eye. She sends me a million thoughts of the horrible things she wants to do to him. All of it involves him dead at the end. “You want to break me into being your weapon? You’re going to have to do better than that.”

“The Gods be damned, you are a fucking—” He takes a step forward, but he instantly stops when another man comes into the room. I spot a mark on his neck, indicating a wolf. He’s a beta. I’d put him at the same age as Onyx’s father, with peppered brown hair and blue eyes, which are kind. Strange to see any kindness in a beta, at least from what I’ve heard of them.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Gwenieve.” The beta smiles. “My name is Beta Guili, and I will be one of the sentencing betas in your trial this morning. It is a closed trial except for invited guests, and we feel it will take five days. We aren’t the enemy, Gwenieve, and I’d like to take you to the sentencing hall without you fearing for your life. The trial room has currents swimming under the floorboards and in the walls, and it makes it hard for you to lie within the walls. Speaking the truth today will make everything easier.”

Great, sounds like the perfect room for me. I cock my head to the side. “Do I look stupid?” He opens his mouth to reply, but I cut him off. “I must do if you think I’d believe you’re on my side. You’re not.”

“Put the handcuffs on and make it easy, kid.” Finnegan’s father, Tutor Edvard, comes into the room with his arms crossed. I’m surprised to see him here, but wary too. I can’t trust Finnegan, and his father is likely going to be on his side. They both must hate me.

“Are you here to torture me, too?” I question.

He frowns and steps forward. “No one’s torturing you. Torture of a Nexus prisoner goes against our laws. No one would ever hurt you. But a lot of us are quite frightened of your Nexus. We would appreciate if you put the handcuffs on. They drain your magic and make you unable to shift outside of these walls for a limited time while we go to the trial.”

The handcuffs, the nasty black colour of the metal, is familiar. My Nexus whines, remembering bracelets that were so similar. I know they will make me wear them if I say no, and it’s not a choice. My only choice is between having them manhandle me, which Paavo the fucker would love, or doing it myself. “Fine.” I shove my hands out.

Alpha Paavo comes closer, and I slide off the bed, away from him. “Not you. Give them to Tutor Edvard, Alpha.” I sarcastically drag the title alpha out. He isn’t an alpha I follow, and he will never be. Weak men shouldn’t be left in charge or with titles they didn’t earn—and don’t deserve.

He grits his teeth and chucks them to Edvard. He sighs as he comes closer to me, and he frowns at my face. I realise he’s seen my cut lip. My healing isn’t working in here. “Who did that?”

“Gwenieve threw a tantrum when she came in here and hurt herself on the bed,” Alpha Paavo smoothly lies. “But I believe she is calmer now. Hurry up.”

Liar. “Don’t worry, I’ve been hit a lot harder.” I let out a breath as he clips the handcuffs on me, and I can’t breathe for a second as they take control. My Nexus screams in my mind as she is pushed down, and my blood runs cold. I hate it. I immediately hate it. When everything isn’t spinning and I can breathe again, he leads me from the room. He stays at my side, while Alpha Paavo and Beta Guili walk in front of us.

“You can ask me about Finn, if you wish?—”

“Why would I want to know anything about the mate that betrayed me and put me in here?” When he doesn’t reply, I roll my eyes. “No, I’m not going to ask about him. I don’t want to know anything.”

I truly don’t want to know anything. They’re dead to me. They betrayed me, and that’s all my mates are destined to ever do, apparently, to betray me and hurt me. Yes, I rejected them first, but this is worse. I completely understand why they would hate me, but this? This is a fate worse than death, and they could have just let me leave Starlight. They could have not made me trust them. They could have not put me in here. I look away before any of those emotions are portrayed on my face, before it makes me cry. Again.

“Do you know Finn has a little sister?” My head shoots his way. “She’s not my biological child. His mum had another relationship after me, and I’ve rarely met her to be honest. We weren’t mates, but his mum passed in childbirth with his sister. His sister lives mostly in the hospital here because her Nexus is sick and?—”

“We don’t talk to our prisoners,” Alpha Paavo stops him.

The look Beta Guili gives him is interesting. Maybe not everyone is up his ass after all. “I don’t remember reading that law, and I’ve read every law in every rule book that’s written by the Nexus. As Supreme Alpha, you should have read all the laws too. Communication with our prisoners is not against the law.” I’m shocked that he is defying his alpha and protecting me. Strange.

“Maybe it should be.” Alpha Paavo straightens his tie.

“Unless you’re going to pass a law too quickly through all the betas, I highly doubt that you’re going to be able to stop anyone talking to this prisoner.”

“Fine.” They both walk ahead, but Beta Guili looks back and gives me a soft smile before carrying on. I frown at him.

Clearing my throat, I glance at Edvard. “I really don’t want to hear more about Finn or his sister.” Even though I’m slightly intrigued about this sister who I saw him hugging, but he never mentioned she is sick. Not sure why I’d think he’d mention it to me anyway. He clearly hates me. Still hates me. He must have been lying and pretending, because whatever I saw on his face in that warehouse can’t be true if I’m in here. I’m not delusional enough to let myself believe anyone could want me anymore. My mother always said no one would accept and want me. She is right. She was always right. For a moment, just a moment, I thought someone accepted me and she was wrong. That I had a reason to live, a reason to keep going. That it was real. That moment was crushed the minute I woke up. Destroyed, trampled on, and made damn sure that I know mother was right once and for all.

My father…he told me once to love and trust my mates. That the Gods were rarely wrong and that I had to trust in the fate destined for me. Yes, he agreed to reject them, but in the end, in his last moments, I remember them clearly as if he was right in front of me. He told me to give them a chance. I told him I couldn’t, because of this. Because I knew, if I let my mates in, that they’d probably be the ones that would break me much more than I’m already broken.

Edvard tries to start a conversation in the walk up endless staircases that are cold and smell damp. “You still belong to the academy, you know. The trials circumvent the rules of the academy attendance. But, if you’re found not guilty or they don’t have enough evidence to convict you for murder, you’ll be given back to us. Back to your home.”

The funny or sad thing is, the academy was probably the first place I called home. My childhood house wasn’t really anything more than a house, and it lacked the warmth of a home. I never laughed much there. I never really enjoyed it. Not like the academy or nights in with Annie. The training that made me feel alive. The mates who made me feel the most dangerous thing of all—hope. The fact I was never hungry there or so cold my lips turned blue. That my bed was warm when I went to sleep under my duvets, and I didn’t have to be scared of training with my mother or Severi hurting me if he found me again. That I was never truly alone. Because independence sometimes masks loneliness, and it’s not until you’ve been independent for so long that you realise you’re lonely. I miss Annie…and a sad part of me misses my mates. Well, not Hollis. I’m glad that fucker isn’t around, and at the same time, the bond makes me want to know he is okay. That all of them are. “One question. Are they okay?”

“They are alive,” he answers, but I can tell he isn’t telling me something.

We go up several more staircases and through three doors covered in runes. This place is truly fortified, and there isn’t a door we pass that doesn’t stink of Paavo’s magic. He might have just become Alpha Supreme, but he was a beta before and clearly was in control of protecting this place with his magic. It’s his fortress and that isn’t good for me. As far as I know, he’s the only one who can do these kinds of runes. It means he completely controls this place. It also means that if he’s dead, then hopefully all this shit will vanish so I can walk right out. It’s good to know who I need to kill. I feel Alpha Paavo looking back several times to stare at me. It’s not him checking an enemy; it’s a smug look, because he’s won while I’m like this. He’s winning.

“What exactly happened to the last Supreme Alpha?” My question makes them all tense. Interesting.

We come out into a long, stretched corridor, and there are no windows. The stone is marked with hundreds of archways in a line, and the old architecture of this place reminds me of the academy castle. The only thing that makes it Scottish is the worn red tartan rug that is spread down the middle—and the fact that it looks a little like Edinburgh Castle the one time I visited it. It was the closest I ever got to a normal day out with my mother. I don’t know why she took me there, but she did when it was about five months before everything went wrong. We had ice cream and looked around the castle after driving there for nearly an entire day. We stayed in a cheap Travelodge on the Royal Mile, and we ate pizza for dinner. Life was simple then. I was a kid then, who only wanted to please her parents.

Beta Guili clears his throat. “He was found dead. First, we thought it was a suicide, but on closer inspection, it looks like he was drained by Vian at the same time the bombing happened. He had his own troubles, but unfortunately, his mate felt his death and ran over to try to save him, we suspect. She was killed too, not drained by Vian, but shot.”

I flinch. “Both Annie’s parents are dead?” That’s gut-wrenching. Gut-wrenching for her. I know what it’s like to suddenly lose both your parents in one night. Annie…

“A tragedy, both the deaths of the Supreme Alpha and his mate. Along with the bombing. Hopefully, we’ll find both Annie and her mate alive,” Edvard’s voice echoes. “My rangers are working to find her, and we won’t give up. She will be found.”

I want to tell them that getting them back from my most deranged mate is not going to be an easy task. I escaped from his home once, and I never want to go back there. But I would, for Annie. I want to scream that Alpha Paavo is letting Vian in to see me at night. But I know that I’ll just be called crazy, and at this point, I need to be believed to escape a death trial. Smart. My father knew this might happen one day, and he told me that the only way for me to escape a bad death would be to become something the Nexus desperately need. A weapon against the Vian. “Annie doesn’t deserve any of this.”

But I do.

Now I have to face my past. At the end of the corridor is a line of five Nexus rangers, and I recognise all of them from the academy. I don’t know their names, as they are from the upper years, but the way their eyes widen when they look at me tells me they probably know mine. They step to the side, and the doors literally fold in on each other to open into an impressive, sleek and modern room.

The stark white walls are smooth, but the ceiling is something else altogether. It’s white, but textured stars smother the ceiling, and each one is part of a different constellation. Each star is a slightly different shape, but right in the centre of the ceiling is a five-pointed star, shining bright like it’s alive. At the end of each of the tips is a symbol for our Gods. The very Gods who made me like this and have forsaken me. I can barely look for a second because a pull in my soul has my eyes drifting to the left. At the bottom of rows of seats are my mates.

My betraying, devastatingly good-looking, and cruel mates. Except for Rhodes. Where is Rhodes? Hollis is nearest me, but he doesn’t bother lifting his head. Asshole. I bet he is happy I’m here. Alek, Finn and Onyx watch me, and each of them stood up the moment I walked in. They’re all in suits, and it’s not fair how good they look when I’m a mess. My white clothes are crumpled, my hair is a mess, and I’m so exhausted I must be awful to look at. Not that I care about their opinion.

Alek grips the banister in front of him as I walk closer, and my stupid heart races at the sight of them. I remember Alek’s lips on mine; I remember Finn’s; I remember every heated moment with Onyx, where I thought we might kill each other, but it was never that. I remember the feelings; I remember all of it. Rhodes…he isn’t here. I don’t even mean enough to him to come here for me. They betrayed me, and my heart hurts. Literally hurts as I look at them. I gulp down the hurt that is going to make me cry, and I immediately look away.

“Gwen!” Alek reaches out for me, and I step to the side so he can’t touch me, almost bumping into Finn’s father. “Gwen, come here so we can talk first.”

“Don’t bother,” I say to all of them, keeping my expression cold. I can’t let them see how I’m feeling because they have broken me. “Just don’t. You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

“Sun.” Finnegan’s deep voice is raw, but I don’t believe it.

I turn my eyes on him. “Come closer and see whether you get burnt or not. You’re all betraying pieces of shit, and I hope this trial makes you happy.”

I’m begging my Nexus to break through these handcuffs and just kill the other fuckers that are in this room and leave, until I remember my mates are here. My shoulders drop. She might kill them, and I don’t want that. I’ve never wanted that. After what happened in the warehouse, she didn’t kill Finn, and he walked to me like the grey draining of my magic didn’t touch him. Could they survive me? Are they immune to my Nexus? I don’t know. I ran from them for years because I thought they would be killed by my Nexus, but what if I was wrong?

I’m led to the middle of where there’s a small, waist-high, red stained glass box, and Beta Guili gently pushes me inside before shutting the door. Tutor Edvard heads over to my betraying mates, and I glance for a second, not long enough to catch any of their expressions. I can’t let myself look too long. Beta Guili goes with Paavo to a podium with seats in front of me. The betas stand, and when Beta Guili joins them, four stand on each side of Alpha Paavo.

The alpha speaks first, and his voice is like nails dragging down my spine. “Gwenieve Patience Autumn, you are hereby tried for the murders of five Nexus, for concealing your true Nexus and abilities, which are a danger to the city, and I’m sure there are many crimes of which we are not aware. But for now, this is where we’re going to start. My betas will be in charge of the trial, and at the end, we will make a decision. You will need a minimum of four votes to be free. If not, you will be sentenced to death.”

Beta Guili stands and leads. “Gwenieve, we’d like to get to know what happened to you first.” The other betas are all of a similar age and all men. Small men, at that, with silver spoons stuck up their asses, I bet. No surprise to me, there isn’t a single female in this room to judge me. “Tell us what your parents did to you, or were you born this way?”

“No.”

He clears his throat. “That isn’t an answer, Gwenieve. Please tell us the truth. There is no point to lies and secrets now.”

“I think there is every need for them,” I respond. “Unless you’re going to force me?”

His shoulders drop slightly. “We want to help you. To help you and understand what your Nexus is.” He leans forward. “We know Vian cannot touch you and drain you like us. We know you are very well trained and have at least two abilities, but I’d suspect more. Your Nexus is just as violent as you can be, but not just to our enemies it seems. We have video footage, and we understand that your shift is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in our history. You can shift both into a wolf and into a being, almost mortal-like. What I want to know is if you have control when you shift?”

I’m slightly thrown that they have footage of me shifting, because usually my Nexus destroys all technology nearby. They must have gotten lucky, or my Nexus was sloppy. “You’re going to kill me either way. You’ve made up your mind, so why bother with all this?”

“I have not made up my mind, and neither have my partners here. I see a scared young girl who has never had anyone fight in her corner. If you give us a chance, perhaps we can work together to discover why you’re a murderer in the first place. Why your Nexus chooses violence.” He cocks his head to the side. “Gwenieve, not all of us are as evil as you currently believe.”

“You’re right, I’m a murderer. I’ve been a murderer since I was a kid, and I’ve been hidden all this time because my parents fought for me. I have so much blood on my hands that if all the people that I killed were in this room, I’m not sure they’d even fit, and this is a fucking gigantic room. What else do you want to know?”

He is unfazed by my admittance. I can’t look at my mates to see if they are. “Do you like being a murderer? If you had a choice, would you kill like she does?”

“No.” The word rips out of my soul because it’s true. If it was my choice and not my Nexus, I wouldn’t be a murderer, but I shouldn’t have told him that.

He smiles softly. Like smiling at a wounded animal. “You’re something different and I don’t believe in killing something different only for the reason being that they’re different.”

Alpha Paavo huffs. “The reason she must be disposed of is that she’s a murderer. Hardly just because she is different.”

“Fuck off, this is wrong on so many levels, and I’m done listening to you call her a murderer when she only killed Nexus that deserved it. Nexus you would have sent me after or brought here, anyway.” Finnegan’s voice echoes. His dad tries to grab his arm and pull him down, but it’s clear he won’t budge. He is defending me, and I don’t know what to make of it when he is the reason I’m in here. They all are, except Rhodes. Where is Rhodes? I thought he would be the one fighting for me the most out of them all and telling me everything is going to be okay, but he isn’t here. Rhodes is not here, and it’s killing me because I know how I feel about him.

“Every single one of the dead Nexus had done crimes that would be tried in our community and given a death sentence. For example, one of her victims was severely beating his mate. He had plans, which I recorded, to kill her. Brutally, might I add, and then kill himself. What was done may have not been allowed in the law, but every single one of them had done a crime against our own laws that were written in this room. Laws that would class her as nothing more than a ranger doing their job. She is a ranger, and she has done nothing wrong. If killing bastards who deserve it is a crime, then lock me up with her!”

“Sit down or I’ll throw you out!” Alpha Paavo roars.

Finnegan smirks and holds his arms out. “Make me.”

Onyx nods at Hollis. Hollis only holds a hand out, and Finnegan flies down into his seat and is held there by an invisible force—Hollis’s gift. Finnegan struggles and swears, but Onyx says something quietly to him, and he glares but stops. I look away before I meet any of their eyes. He is defending me. What the fuck?

“I’ll continue then,” Beta Guili says into the silence. “Does your Nexus select them for their crimes? Does she feel she’s a hero, performing justice?” I don’t say anything. What can I even say to that? “Let’s start again at the beginning. You said you’ve been a killer since you were a child. Was that the first time that you shifted? Did you kill people by accident?”

My shoulders drop. Smart. I have to be smart. “Yes.”

Silence echoes loud. “Will you tell us about it?”

“Will it make a difference?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Trust me, it will. We want to understand you. We could have just killed you if we wanted to. Perhaps try fighting for yourself now and tell us the truth. Your parents took you away after rejecting your mates at the ceremony. We assumed it was because you didn’t want five mates. That’s a big bond to take on and accept, so when word spread, yes, we put out a reward for your return, but we assumed that was the reason. I knew your father personally, and he was a brilliant fighter. Your mother as well was known to be very quick-witted, and I knew the pair of them would do very well in keeping you out of trouble. I thought they’d bring you back when you were older, when things had settled down, when you wanted, perhaps, to settle down. It’s a big choice for a fifteen-year-old to take a bond like that. We know this. Yes, rejections in ceremonies are extremely rare, but they happen. Having a bond to five mates is also extremely rare. But everything about your parents has always been that little bit of strange. Take your father, for example. He was at the top of his class, and then he walked out. No one, except Edvard over there, knows the reason for that. I would like him to stand—this is why he’s been invited today—to explain the reason. I feel the past is the key to understanding what happened with your Nexus.”

I turn to Edvard, who looks at me with sympathy in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Gwen, that this is the conversation we have to have here so publicly. It was not something that I wanted to discuss with you until I felt you were ready. Your father was the top of the class, as you say. Brilliant, almost. I had not taken over the role as leader of the academy, but my father had. My father was in that position towards the end of his lifetime. I was training, and I overheard when your father came in. I overheard the whole conversation. His mate had turned up pregnant and begged him to leave the academy. They had been arguing for a long time, and he felt like there was zero choice for him except to pull out of the academy to look after you when you came as a baby, because your mother wasn’t too keen on having you. He left to protect you from her. There was more to the conversation but nothing that needs to be added here. We can talk about it privately at a time when you’re ready.”

Protect me? My father couldn’t do that. Tears sting in my eyes as I look forward.

“Did your father raise you, or was it more your mother?”

“I was five the first time I shifted. Quite normal apparently, but we were out at a human shop. It wasn’t a big one. There were probably twenty people there, going about their day shopping, elderly and adult humans. Thankfully, no children. I was the only child in there. I shifted in the middle of the aisle, in front of my mother, and everything turned grey. The floors, the people, and everything except for my mother. She…I don’t know. She ran out, ran away from me so quickly that I suppose my Nexus never really got to touch her. She abandoned me and I don’t blame her. When I shifted back, I was naked and alone in a shop full of dead bodies, and my father was just there. He picked me up, took me to the car, obviously covered me up first, went inside and lit a fire. He called a friend with a fire ability—I don’t know who—and burnt it fast. The human authorities just assumed that there had been a bomb or an explosion. That’s why there were no survivors. Everything was so severely destroyed that there was no investigation to be had. My father made sure that every camera nearby was destroyed. My mother helped with that too. There was no evidence, no trail, nothing. They made sure that everything disappeared, including those people, because of me. I couldn’t control it, and they were both scared of me.” A tear falls down my cheek. “But they loved me. They both loved me, and I wish they were here now.”

Beta Giuli’s voice is soft. “When’s the next time that you shifted?”

I rub my wrists with the handcuffs. “My father used to have things like these handcuffs, but they were bracelets. It managed to keep her under control for years. But when I got to my teenage years and closer to the ceremony, things got harder. The bracelets were no longer working, and my Nexus began to hunt in the way that she does.”

“You call it hunting?” Alpha Paavo questions.

“Yes, I feel that’s what she does.” I stop touching my wrist and stand straighter.

“Did your parents tell you to reject your mates?” one of the other betas asks. “Did they force you?”

“No, that was my choice,” I lie. I need to hold on to that. To tell them that it wasn’t really my choice, well, that would give them some kind of shitty power over me, and I can’t stand it.

Onyx stands and I glance at them for the first time. They look as broken as I feel. Even Hollis is still and watching me. “I think that’s enough for today. She’s clearly upset, and law seventy-two demands that she is given time if traumatic events are brought up.”

Alpha Paavo looks at his son and nods once. “We’ll begin again tomorrow. We have much to discuss before making a choice.” He looks at Beta Guili. “Escort her down with four rangers.”

“No!” Finn shouts. “You let her out. She belongs to—” He pauses and looks right at me. “The academy. We’ll be able to keep her there and her Nexus restricted.”

Paavo shakes his head. “We both know that she escaped from the academy, and at this current time, I do not believe she isn’t a threat to everyone in Starlight City. Her power is wrong on every level, and she could let her Nexus out in the middle of one of our shops, one of our schools, and endlessly kill. She is not in control, and nothing we learnt today makes me believe she is.” He looks right at me. “The trial will continue tomorrow.”

Alek stands and slams his hands on the banister. “Then we take the handcuffs with us, and she can stay in the academy. She will have control. Anything is better than my mate down in a fucking prison!”

Onyx clears his throat and looks right at his father. “Your Honours. Excuse our emotional outburst, but the stakes are high, when we feel our mate is being treated like she chose this life. We can’t kill people for being different and, as Finn pointed out, she didn’t kill anybody who didn’t deserve it. You saw how she battled the Vian. We need her on our side. The Vian are increasing in attacks, and at this point, we are on the edge of a war. They are killing indiscriminately throughout towns and villages. The way that she is might be the way of our future, and maybe she was sent to us by the Gods to aid us in what is to come.”

My heart leaps as he looks at me, and all I feel is confusion. So much confusion. He doesn’t think I’m a monster, even when he knows the truth. Alpha Paavo’s voice cuts through the moment like a knife. “She is your mate, son, so we’re going to ignore your outbursts and wild theory about the Vian. We have everything under control.”

“She’s also needed for Rhodes, and you are ignoring my requests—” Alek protests, but he is cut off quickly. Rhodes?

“We are well aware of the situation, and we’ll make our decision soon regarding your request.” Alpha Paavo rises to his feet. “This is over.”

Finn jumps into the barrier like it’s not there. “She is not fucking staying in there all alone!”

Onyx jumps over to grab him as rangers flood the room through hidden doors. Walls of glowing blue barriers literally slide around Onyx and Finn, leading in a path right to me. Finn is held in place by a barrier on every side of him, but Onyx, he comes right my way. A casual walk like he doesn’t give a shit that they’re all trying to fight their way through him with element powers. It’s a storm of fire, water, air and earth, but it doesn’t get through Onyx’s barrier. I step back the minute he gets close. Finn is losing it and roaring at everyone. “Let me out!”

Onyx steps closer to me anyway. “We can go. I’ll get you out.”

“What makes you think I want to go with you?” I snarl. “How could I ever trust you? You put me in here. All of you put me here. What makes you think my Nexus won’t come after you for betraying us?”

“Gwen, we didn’t betray you. Please, just listen,” he asks, holding out his hand. “Listen, we?—”

“I rejected you and then you forced me to come back here. You forced all this to happen. You forced yourself into my life, got close to me, what, only to betray me? I hope it was worth it. You’re all as bad as each other, and this shitty show of revenge or whatever this is…well, it’s pointless. I can’t die. Ask how I know that, how I’m certain of that,” I demand. Onyx frowns in confusion before realisation seems to dawn on him, and he blanches in shock. I turn around and walk away. The barriers fall apart in front of me, and Beta Guili is waiting at the door.

Finn and Alek are surrounded by rangers, but I hear Finn shout over them. “Sun, I’ll be with you soon!”

I don’t know whether that’s a threat or a promise.

But I don’t care. I don’t care. Maybe if I keep repeating that over and over in my mind, one day, it might finally be true.