Madelaine swallowed. Jack could have waited to express this auspicious news. And it was information that she had also deduced, but she appreciated that he said it within the walls of this oppressive place, as if he were proud of her.
Joy radiated within and her love for this wonderful man—her husband, in fact—grew exponentially.
Madelaine did not falter. She continued to move behind him quietly, counting each of her now hurried happy steps.
Still silent. Still unseen. But not unknown.
Not anymore.
Chapter Fourteen
Jack, with Madelaine directly behind him, did not slow as they followed their escort. They didn’t take one single leisurely step until they could see thePaladin Seekerahead.
The guide stepped aside the moment his foot landed on the platform, letting the two of them pass by without further conversation, as if he couldn’t wait for them to leave. He was not alone in that.
The landing platform stretched ahead, just as stark and watchful as when they’d arrived. The same figures lingered—unmoving, uninterested.
Or pretending to be.
Madelaine kept her gaze forward, her steps measured. Silent. Still. Even now. Not much longer until she could speak. Until they were beyond the veil and the repressive atmosphere of this dark, foreboding planet.
He couldn’t wait to be free of this oppressive place.
Jack keyed the hatch without breaking stride. It opened with a quiet hiss, the sound somehow louder than it should have been in the open air of this oppressive place.
He stepped aside when he got to the ramp, waiting on the platform to let Madelaine go ahead of him. She didn’t break her steady stride, marching up the incline without a single misstep. He followed, slamming his hand on the switch to seal the hatch behind them the second he crossed the threshold into the waiting ship.
They were greeted by the familiar hum of their systems wrapping around them like something alive—something that knew they belonged in here.
Locks engaged. Systems cycled. Still, neither of them spoke.
Madelaine moved to the co-pilot’s seat, lowering herself into it with a slow exhale she didn’t quite let become sound.
The restraint of their journey into the bowels of Malvoraxis Veil had surely sunk deep, likely too deep to shake off instantly, but he wanted her free to talk as soon as possible. He moved quickly to get them in the air and out of what he considered a hellhole.
Jack powered up the ship, movements efficient, controlled—but there was something just beneath it. A tension he hadn’t let show, not yet.
The platform fell away beneath them as the ship lifted slow and steady upward on the same trajectory, only in reverse, as when they’d arrived.
There were no sudden moves or attention drawn to their departure, as far as he could tell. Madelaine kept her hands clasped in her lap and remained silent.
Even when he was certain every instinct told her she could speak, she didn’t.
Not yet.
The sky above Malvoraxis Veil didn’t brighten as they climbed.
It simply thinned out. The weight seemed to lessen. The pressure eased up, but it didn’t disappear entirely. Not until—
“Atmospheric boundary in three,” Jack said quietly. “Two. One.”
The ship broke through.
“And we are free of the cruel world that won’t let you talk or make a sound.” Jack smiled. The stars snapped back into existence. Clear. Sharp. Endless.
And just like that—the silence broke.
Madelaine inhaled sharply.
