Page 137 of The Endless Want

My fists clench. I keep my voice level. “You mean my family.”

“Yes.”

The rage that moves through me is quiet, deadly cold, and absolute. Liam senses it. He places a hand on the table near mine—not touching, but close enough to anchor me. “We won’t let that happen.”

I don’t look at him, but I nod. “No,” I say. “We won’t.”

Arkady takes another breath. “We help. We give names. Locations. Codes. We want out of Vore. But leaving is… impossible.”

Liam raises a brow. “And why is that?”

“Because once you are Vore,” Arkady whispers, “you are never free. Only dead.”

Nadia folds her arms. “Then we better make sure they’re the ones who die first.”

Arkady presses both hands flat to the map. “War is not over. This was beginning. They will strike again. Harder. Smarter.”

“This time we’ll be ready,” I say.

Liam nods. “We restructure. Combine our resources. Irish, Italians, and the defectors. A joint intelligence team.”

Rory raises a hand from across the room. “We upgrading weapons too? Because the last fight chewed through half our stock.”

Finn calls out from the back, “And we need eyes in the ports. They used smugglers to move people in and out. We can choke that if we get the right channels.”

Liam turns slightly toward me. “Declan runs field response. I’ll run command.”

I incline my head. “You call it. I’ll execute it.”

Liam’s eyes soften with something that might be respect.

Conor grins, muttering, “About damn time.”

Arkady straightens. “So we work together?”

Liam answers. “Yes.”

I add, “But understand something. If any of you turn on us—if any of you even think about betraying us—I’ll end you myself.”

Arkady bows his head. “We do not betray. Not now. Not after what we survived.”

The negotiations continue. Factions argue. Deals are struck. Maps exchanged. Schedules drafted. And through it all, the train depot feels like the calm before a much darker storm.

None of us say it out loud. But everyone knows. This wasn’t the end.

When the summit finally breaks, Liam stands beside me at the edge of the depot, watching the defectors load into their vehicles. “You all right?” he asks.

“No,” I admit. “But I will be.”

He nods once. “You should go see her.”

“I will.” I turn toward my car.

The ring box weighs heavy in my pocket.

CHAPTER 42

Ailish