Chapter 33 Leena
LEENA
Isit on the edge of a low platform that serves as a bed, my hands resting loosely in my lap, staring at nothing for longer than I should. The words are still sitting in my head.
Watching. Studying. War.
I should feel afraid, and maybe I do, but it’s not the thing pressing in on me right now. It’s him.
I feel him before I hear him. That shift in the air. His presence. Kael.
I don’t turn. He moves closer, slow and steady, the sound of his steps muted against the floor. He stops behind me, close, but not touching.
“You are thinking,” he says.
It’s not a question.
“No kidding,” I murmur.
A breath leaves him. Not quite a laugh. The silence stretches. Not uncomfortable. Just full.
I let it sit there a moment longer before I finally turn. He looks better. Not healed, but stronger than he was. His gaze meets mine, steady and unflinching. No walls. No distance. Just him.
“They’re not going to stop,” I say.
I don’t need to explain what I mean.
“I know.”
Simple and certain. Not a hint of hesitation. I swallow.
“Then this place…” I gesture vaguely around us. “All of this—it’s not as safe as they think.”
“No.”
Again, just truth. No comforting lies. It should make it worse, but it doesn’t, because he’s here. Because he’s not pretending it’s something it isn’t. Because he’s choosing to face it with me. I push to my feet slowly and close the distance.
“You could leave,” I say. The words come out quieter than I expected. “They’re after you.”
His expression doesn’t change.
“I will not leave you.”
Immediate and unquestioning. Not dramatic or overly emotional. A cold, dry statement of fact, no different than saying the suns rise in the morning. My chest tightens.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” A beat. Then, softer—“I am still not leaving.”
That hits harder because it’s a choice. Not instinct or programming. It’s him. I exhale slowly, some of the tension bleeding out of me.
“Good,” I say.
Because I don’t have anything else. Because I don’t want him to go. Because I wouldn’t stop him if it meant saving everyone else, and part of me hates that I wouldn’t.
He lifts his hand, slow and deliberate. He doesn’t touch me right away, giving me the space to step back. I don’t.
His fingers brush my arm, then slide up, settling at my shoulder and drawing me closer without force. I go. Not pulled. Choosing.
My hands find his chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath my palms. Stronger, though still not perfect.
“I meant what I said,” he murmurs.
“When?”
“When I said you are mine.”
My breath catches. There’s no edge to it. No claim that feels like ownership. It’s something deeper. Stronger.
“I know,” I say softly.
Because I do. Because I felt the difference the moment it changed. My fingers curl against him.
“You’re mine too,” I add.
The words come easier than they should. Simpler. Truer. Something in him stills. Not frozen. Settled.
His forehead lowers to mine, the contact light and controlled, but grounding in a way that makes everything else fall away. For a moment, there’s nothing else. No city. No Council. No war waiting just outside the edges of everything we’ve managed to build.
Just this. Just us.
“We will face what comes,” he says quietly.
Not a promise or a vow. A decision. Together.
I close my eyes briefly, letting that settle in. Letting it take root.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “We will.”
Outside, the city keeps moving. People surviving. Building something out of nothing. Holding the line one more day. Inside, we do the same.
I don’t know what’s coming. I don’t know if any of this will hold when it comes. But I know this. I’m not alone. Not anymore.
Whatever finds us next, it’s going to have to face both of us.
Because I didn’t just survive Tajss. I found him.