Massive.
Final.
If that thing seals—
we die underground.
Along with every child here.
Clay grips my shoulders firmly.
“Hannah.”
I blink hard.
Focus returning in fragments.
His eyes lock onto mine.
Not fear.
Not pity.
Just certainty.
“You are NOT one of them.”
My throat tightens instantly.
Because he says it like there’s absolutely no doubt in his mind.
Even now.
Even after hearing all of this.
The little girl wrapped against my side clings tighter to me.
Tiny fingers trembling in my hoodie.
And suddenly I know exactly what Wu never understood.
Sentinel could condition children.
Break them.
Drug them.
Erase pieces of them.
But they never truly understood love.
Human connection.
Choice.
Because if they had…they would’ve known this little girl wouldn’t be reaching for me right now.
She’d be running from me.
