Destination:Classified.
Status:Pending Approval.
I type the last words.
“Voluntary deployment. Off-world. Immediate transfer requested.”
My hands don’t shake this time.
Because there’s nothing left to tremble for.
I hitSend.
The confirmation tone rings hollow in the dark.
CHAPTER 24
NOVA
The launch happens at 0600 sharp.
Swan’s ship breaks atmosphere with the kind of grace that feels cruel.
I watch from the observation deck, alone, arms crossed so tight my ribs ache. The tower is quiet, thick with that eerie stillness that comes before something awful.
The console lights flicker across my face, casting blue shadows. Outside, the sky is soft pink, the kind of color that pretends innocence. But I know better.
Swan doesn’t know I cried last night.
Doesn’t know I whispered prayers to stars I stopped believing in years ago.
Doesn’t know I filed a complaint that ripped a man out of his future and called it salvation.
Kaz should’ve been the one up there.
That thought keeps clawing at my spine.
Kaz should’ve flown that mission.
But he didn’t.
Because I opened my mouth.
The ship disappears into the stratosphere. A silver streak swallowed by the clouds. Swan’s gone.
Kaz is already gone.
And all I’ve got left are ghosts.
I don’t remember walking back to my quarters.
Just the harsh beep of my door lock, the swish of the seal breaking, and the sterile chill of the room greeting me like an old enemy.
A single notification pulses on my terminal.
I don’t want to open it.
I already know.
