The room dissolves into activity. Bronco argues with Wraith about ammo counts. Cipher puts on headphones, diving into the digital abyss to hunt his Ivy.
I steer Iris out of the room.
We walk out into the corridor, away from the noise, away from the war.
We step out the back door, onto the observation deck where we stood a few nights ago.
The sun sits high now. The snow reflects blindingly white under a blue sky. The air is crisp, cold, and clean.
I lean on the railing. Iris steps in front of me, leaning back against my chest. I wrap my arms around her, burying my face in her neck.
“Grounded.” She turns the word over, her hands covering mine. “Sounds boring.”
“Boring is good.” I press a kiss below her ear. “I like boring. Boring means no one is shooting at us.”
“For now.”
“Yeah. For now.”
She turns in my arms. Her fingers trace the line of my jaw, brush the healing cut on my forehead.
“You know they’re going to call us up eventually.” She turns fully. “When they hit Malta. They’re going to need a medic.”
“I know.”
“And you’re going to go.”
“I go where you go, Iris. That’s the deal.”
“The Shield and the Savior.” A slow smile edges her lips.
“The Shield and the Savior.” I brush my thumb across her cheek. “I think you just gave yourself a callsign.”
The darkness I lived in for ten years replays in my mind. The missions. The bodies. The cold nights in empty apartments. I thought that was the price I had to pay for my skills.
But she saw the monster, and she didn’t run. She handed me a weapon and told me to aim.
She walked into the carbonized wreckage of me and started triage, fixing all the bad things. Making everything right again.
“I have a question.” I trace the fine line of her collarbone.
“You can stop right there.” The warmth in her gaze lights up the dark corners of my chest.
“Stop. What do you mean?”
“You’re trying to give me an out again.”
“I have to. It’s protocol.”
“Screw protocol.” She grabs the front of my shirt. “I told you on the balcony. I don’t want safe. I want you. This.” She gestures to the mountains, to the fortress behind us, to the team inside planning a war. “I found my family. I found my pack. And I found you.”
She kisses me.
Deep. Certain. A promise sealed in blood and snow.
“I’m keeping you,” I murmur against her mouth.
“I know.”
