Page 144 of Bride of the Enemy Alien

Perfect.

Rhazek traces one finger along the back of my hand.

“Is this what home feels like?” he asks.

“Usually with more people yelling.”

“That makes sense.”

I turn my head toward him.

“Home is not me.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

“But you are in it,” he says.

That is exactly the right answer. I move closer, careful of his ribs, and rest my forehead against his shoulder.

“You’re in mine too.”

His arm comes around me only after I lean into it. No cage and no leashes. No one deciding for anyone else.

Just a ruined City, an impossible male, an uncertain future, and love anyway.

For once, it’s enough.

Epilogue

Later, when the suns have shifted and Merra has yelled at both of us with impressive specificity, Rhazek and I stand at the east gate with the rest of the City gathered in uneven rings around us.

It’s not a ceremony. Everyone keeps saying it’s not a ceremony, which is how I know it has become one.

Virn speaks because leaders are useful for making accidental ceremonies sound intentional. Rosalind stands with Visidion. Sera and Kavor have come from the source-watch side, both pale and steady, their joined hands a quiet answer to everything the enemy tried to turn into a weapon. Ila has brought food because she is the only person here with true strategic vision. Penr holds three slates and a bread roll. Renn pretends not to guard everyone at once. Syin stands near Rhazek without hovering like a jailer for once. They are not friends. Yet.

Adran reads the safeguards.

All of them.

In public.

It takes forever.

Children begin fidgeting by the second paragraph. By the fourth, a kedi has climbed onto a broken stone and begun washing itself with more confidence than the council has ever displayed. By the sixth, even Virn looks like he regrets civilization.

Rhazek listens to every word without complaint.

I lean close and whisper, “If you survive this, the City may actually accept you.”

“This is harsher than interrogation,” he murmurs.

“Adran has hidden talents.”

“He should hide this one again.”

I bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to stay quiet.