Page 117 of Ashes of Honor

The simulations had ended two weeks ago, giving everyone time to return home, check on their people, and prepare for whatever came next.

And for now, the rest of my family was safe. Or they had been before I’d apparently crashed on the couch last night and slept well into the morning—if the sun’s creeping position was anything to go by.

Reina was healthy. She was determined to end this war. Her refusal to dwell on what had happened should’ve comforted me. Instead, it gnawed at the edge of my mind, because it mirrored my own focus. We’d stopped askingwhy. Now it was only abouthow.

How to finish this.

How to make Ronan pay.

How to survive long enough to see it through.

We couldn’t make a weapon out of this new development—not without hurting our own. Thus, the only response was to focus on how to kill them all. Knowing thewhybehindhowthe Pansies were now communicating had become irrelevant too. Our focus was demanded elsewhere.

The soft taps on the door persisted, breaking through the quiet of our quarters. I glanced at the clock. Late morning. The sunlight poured through the curtains, making me squint. I’d slept too long. Another mistake. I stretched, my muscles protesting after a night spent on the couch. Pain stabbed my lower back, and I winced. I’d slept in worse conditions. Alexiares and Elie must’ve been out doing their own thing. Where Alexiares found the energy, I wasn’t sure. Lucky him.

“Okay, okay,” I grumbled, swinging the door open. “This better be?—”

The words died in my throat.

God, she was beautiful, even with the deep, black circles of grief under her eyes. Luna stood there, her peppery hair frameda face carved from stone. The kind of face that pierced through you and found every crack you were trying to hide. Her bronze skin gleamed in the midday sun, and for a moment, I hated her for it—for the life and strength she carried, even under the weight of all the loss.

The pitter-patter of my heart became thunderous with anxiety. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes,” Luna pushed her way into the door as if she owned the place, which, in some way, she used to. She wrinkled her nose. “You smell. When’s the last time you bathed? Had a meal that wasn’t cornbread.”

“I fell asleep on the couch before I had the chance,” I grumbled, lowering my nose to my shoulder and embarrassingly agreeing with her assessment. A crumb of cornbread fell off my lip.Okay, points were made.

“Oh, sweet girl,” Luna turned back in concern. “If there was any time to take care of yourself, it’s now.”

I closed the door behind me with a dramatic swat and kicked my way back to the couch, collapsing into it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She didn’t answer right away. Her focus lingered on me as she sat down, close enough that I could feel the warmth of her.When one parent goes down, another’s ready to lecture at the ready.Oh. That’s a real dark thought, girl.I cringed, clearing my throat and fixing myself to grant me a good view of her face.

“You set off for war in a matter of days.War. Now, I don’t have to tell you how ugly that gets. You remember it well enough.” Luna waved her hand nonchalantly as she spoke.

Always so …alive. Like Prescott had been—just in a different way.

Of course, I remembered what it was like. All too fucking well. But that’s why I was here—to end it. One final battle. One that would silence any other opportunists motivated enough tostrike. To make Ronan pay for everything he’d taken. For Jax. For Prescott. For Seth. For Reina’s soul. For everyone who’d been swallowed up by his ambition and greed disguised as the desire to dogood.

“I’m fine,” I said, knowing it was a lie. Knowing she wouldn’t buy that shit. Not for a moment.

Luna’s hand rested on my knee and grabbed my attention, forcing me to look her in the eye—to see the sincerity behind her words. Her touch grounded me, though I hated how much I needed it. “The best thing you can do right now is show your body and mind the same love you’ve poured into this world. You’ve sacrificed a lot, but you can’t fight for anyone if there’s nothing left ofyouto give. Before you go out there and risk it all, promise me one thing?”

“You know we don’t make promises we can’t keep, Luna. Don’t do that. Please.” I pleaded, already feeling trapped by whatever she was about to ask.

“No, no. This one’s simple,” she said gently. “Nothing you can’t uphold unless you choose not to. I would not be surprised, by the way. You’re stubborn, just like Pres?—”

The room stilled.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly.

“Don’t be, Lu. Seriously, it’s fine,” I said, though the tremble in my voice betrayed me. “What’s the promise?”

“Stay true to yourself. Wars don’t just claim lives—they take pieces of you, carve away at your soul, little by little, until you forget who you were fighting for in the first place. I know you, Sweet Girl. Prescott knew you. The woman he was proud to call his, to call his family.Thatwoman has something worth protecting, and that’s what Ronan fears the most.

“Don’t let fire meet fire. All it does is leave behind ash. War is inevitable and it will rage around you, but you don’t have to let itconsume you. Survive, not by burning brighter, but by refusing to be burned at all.”

I stiffened. Her words hit too close to the truth. I’d been lost, focused on vengeance, on proving myself as general, that I hadn’t stopped to think about what I was losing in the process. My humanity? Maybe. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was winning. What mattered was making Ronan reap what he’d sown.

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