Page 3 of Sixth
He answered simply. “Now we leave.”
“And then?”
He looked ahead to the docking bay where his ship waited. “Then I keep my promise to Hannah.”
Her steps faltered. “You know my sister?”
“Affirmative.” His tone softened despite himself. “She asked me to bring you home.”
For the first time, her expression shifted. The anger gave way to shock, then confusion. “Then why—why didn’t you say so before?”
“Because saying her name here would have condemned you.”
They reached the transport. The guards bowed and stepped back as the door sealed behind them. The hum of the ship rose, surrounding them in a low, thrumming sound that matched the pulse of the Valenmark. She looked down at it, then athim.
“Unbreakable?” she whispered.
“Affirmative.”
“Even death?”
His throat tightened. “Only through death,” he corrected.
For a long moment, neither spoke. The ship lifted from the platform, sliding into the dark between stars. Apex looked at her reflection in the viewport, the faint shimmer of the mark, the fierce determination in her eyes. He knew what the Council would see when they learned: the rightful heir of Vetta bound to a human. The scandal. The threat.
But beneath it all, something older stirred, something that recognized her not as weakness but as destiny. The Valenmark had chosen. And whether he wished it or not, their fates were now entwined.
