Bonus Chapter
Jonah
Rain taps softly against the cabin windows.
Warm light flickers through the living room while thunder rolls somewhere far out over the mountains.
Peace.
Actual peace.
Still feels strange sometimes.
Lily and Noah are asleep upstairs after refusing at least six bedtime warnings from Aaron over comms earlier.
Elizabeth lives in the apartment above the garage. Slowly healing.
Cal and Lance headed back to our base house yesterday.
Ronan disappeared sometime around noon with that unreadable expression he always wears. He says his wife demanded that he get home.
And for the first time since Oracle—
It’s just us.
Sienna stands barefoot in the kitchen wearing one of my shirts.
Nothing else.
My pulse immediately forgets every functioning thought in my head.
She catches me staring.
A slow smile curves her mouth.
“You’ve been watching me for like five straight minutes.”
“I’m appreciating art.”
She laughs softly.
God.
That sound still wrecks me.
Not because it’s loud.
Because for a while I thought I might never hear it again.
I move toward her slowly.
Hands settling around her waist.
Her arms slide around my neck instantly like instinct now.
Like trust.
Like she belongs here.
With me.
Always.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
She knows what I’m really asking.
Any nightmares?
Any Oracle echoes?
Any fear?
Her fingers brush lightly through my hair.
“I’m getting there.”
Honest.
Beautifully honest.
I press my forehead against hers.
“That’s enough for me.”
Emotion flickers across her face instantly.
“You never pushed.”
“No.”
“You never treated me like I was broken.”
The very idea makes something angry rise inside my chest.
“Sienna,” I murmur, “look at me.”
Her eyes lift slowly to mine.
“You survived something impossible.”
Tears shine softly in her eyes already.
“You’re not broken.”
I kiss her before she can argue.
Slow this time.
No desperation.
No fear.
Just warmth.
Relief.
Love.
She melts against me immediately.
Soft sigh against my mouth that nearly undoes me completely.
Outside, thunder rolls again.
Inside—
She reaches for me like she finally believes she’s allowed to.
And maybe that’s the real victory after all.
Not surviving Oracle.
Not destroying Kade.
This.
Love after horror.
A future after survival.
Her fingers slide beneath my shirt while I lift her easily onto the kitchen counter.
She laughs softly against my mouth.
“You’re very distracting.”
“You noticed?”
“Hard not to.”
I kiss her again slower this time while rain taps gently against the windows around us.
And for the first time in both our lives—
Neither of us is surviving anymore.
We’re finally living.
THE END