“She would want me to come back,” I say.
Darlene’s face changes.
Nara goes quiet.
I look back at Evie. “So I will.”
I step to the bed one last time. I bend carefully, slowly, and press my lips to her forehead where no bruise, tube, or sensor lies.
Her skin is warm.
Alive.
“I will come back,” I whisper against her.
Then I leave before staying becomes impossible.
The corridor outside bends around me in white light and disinfectant. Arturo waits near the far wall with two of Lenrog’s remaining people. His suit is torn. His face is grim.
“We found Ron,” he says.
The old soldier steps forward.
But not alone now.
Not as the monster under Halo.
Not as Lenrog’s successor. Not as a weapon without a hand to guide it.
As the man Evie loves.
“Where?” I ask.
“Margrave Hotel,” Arturo says. “He’s calling everyone left to him. Final stand, maybe. Or final performance.”
“Then we end it.”
Darlene grabs my wrist as I pass.
I look down.
Her grip is weak, human, and fierce.
“Kauss.”
“Yes.”
“You bring yourself back. Not just your body.”
I hold her gaze. “I will try.”
“Do better than try.”
For once, I almost smile.
Then I walk toward the hospital exit, carrying love like a wound, a promise, and the only weapon I still trust.
Behind me, in the trauma bay, Evie Mercy lies beneath blue light and machines.
