Page 50 of Savage Bond

Not the clinical kind.

Blinding. Warm. Gold.

A sound like ripping thunder tears through the air behind me.

Gasps. Screams.

I blink, squinting against the brightness, my heart racing as I turn?—

A portal. Splitting space open like a wound.

Then Kairon steps through.

Bloodied. Bruised. Breathless. His weapon gleams in his hand, and his eyes lock onto mine with a fierce intensity that ignites something deep within me.

He doesn’t hesitate.

Before anyone else can react, he moves like a storm unleashed. The first shot echoes through the hold, taking out the officer before he even registers what’s happening. The second slams into a guard who barely gets his weapon raised. Kairon slices down the last man standing between us with ruthless efficiency, his presence commanding the room as if he owns it.

Then he’s there—kneeling, unfastening my shackles with deft fingers that brush my skin, sending jolts of warmth radiating through me. He cups my face, searching my eyes as if he needs to ensure I’m really here.

“You came back,” I whisper, disbelief flooding my voice.

His expression softens but stays fierce. “Yes. You're mine.”

My pulse races at the certainty in his tone. Before we can be surrounded again by reinforcements, I grip his arm, urgency flooding through me like electricity.

“There’s a second artifact?—”

He glances toward the vault corridor for just a moment, then back at me—his gaze burning with fierce determination.

“On this ship,” I add quickly, adrenaline thrumming in my veins. “If we take it—together—we’re unstoppable.”

Kairon laughs—a low, rough sound that fills me with unexpected warmth amidst chaos as he cups my face again, thumb brushing over my cheekbone with an intimacy that steals my breath away.

"Fuck, Ava. You're perfect," he murmurs softly before straightening up and scanning our surroundings.

The remnants of battle swirl around us—fallen bodies sprawled on the floor and alarm lights flashing ominously overhead—but none of it matters now; all that matters is him and this moment where everything shifts.

Together, we run.

CHAPTER 31

KAIRON

The portal snaps shut behind me, and I watch as Ava blinks away her confusion. Her eyes widen, taking in the sleek contours of my ship, the dim lighting casting shadows across the metallic surfaces. In my hands, I grip the artifact from the temple—its glow steady and warm against my palm. In hers, she clutches the second artifact—the one stolen from the IHC ship.

Renn spots us first, his mouth already curling into a smartass comment before he freezes mid-sentence. His gaze shifts to the artifact in Ava's hands, then back to me. “Well,” he says slowly, “she’s certainly earned her keep.”

“Enough.” My voice is a low growl. There’s no time for banter or introductions now.

I turn to Nyra, who stands nearby, her cybernetic eye whirring as she assesses the situation with her usual sharpness. “Take those artifacts and secure them. Set a course for one of our safehouses.”

“Something tropical?” she asks, already looking on the map.

“No.”

Ava and I respond in unison, our voices sharp and resolute—two halves of a single decision forged in chaos.

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