Page 397 of Broken Oath

Interrogations endured.

Men who went missing and never returned.

Out here, the world had continued moving.

Sarah looked older.

His father’s hair had turned gray.

And Wade was forty years old.

He had entered that mountain at thirty-five.

A different man.

A different life.

Sarah leaned closer.

“What are you thinking?”

“That I missed your thirtieth birthday.”

“You missed five birthdays.”

“I owe you presents.”

“You owe me explanations.”

“I was imprisoned inside a mountain.”

“Fine. You owe me four explanations.”

A laugh escaped him.

It felt strange in his chest.

Unfamiliar.

But good.

Sarah smiled.

She kept touching him.

His arm.

His wrist.

His shoulder.

As if she needed constant proof that he was real.

Wade understood.

He felt the same way every time he looked at her.

Across the cargo bay, medical personnel worked on Eric Hale. Luke Dawson remained beside him, refusing to move even after the medic promised Hale’s injuries weren’t immediately life-threatening.