“Human attachment,” he says weakly.
“Predictably tragic.”
Russ steps forward calmly.
Then shoots Wu directly through the other leg.
Wu screams again.
Russ lowers the rifle.
“I’ve wanted to do that all night.”
Honestly?
Same.
The countdown flashes:
00:02:11
Clay cups my face suddenly.
Rough hands trembling.
“You come back to me.”
Emotion cracks straight through my chest.
Because he sounds terrified.
Not of death.
Of losing me.
And after everything Ascension stole from me—
being loved like this still feels impossible sometimes.
I press my forehead against his briefly.
“You gave me my life back.”
“Hannah—”
“No.” My voice shakes now too. “Listen to me.”
The reactor chamber groans violently beneath us.
I force the words out anyway.
“You taught me I was human before I remembered it myself.”
God.
The look in his eyes.
Pure heartbreak.
