Page 108 of Rebirth

For a few moments, all we do is sit in silence.

“It does not matter,” I finally click back.

He doesn’t reply.

There is nothing to say.

I may not have claimed Soh’fee in the way most Vullan do. We did not share a colony of ba’clan. But she was mine in every other way. And losing a mate…

Every Vullan knows that leaves a hole that cannot be mended.

“I am sorry, brother,” he finally says, and I tilt my head back against the tank, gazing up at Soh’fee.

More moments of silence pass.

Where do I go from here?

“In the end,” I finally say, “You were right.”

Fer’ro remains silent.

“I kept that beast for some reason not yet known to me. Captured it. Sealed it away.” I pause. “And now, my thirst for vengeance…cost me the one thing that gave my own life meaning. I destroyed the very thing I sought to protect.”

Fer’ro stays with me for a few more minutes…or maybe hours. I do not know.

Time passes without much care before he finally rises and leaves.

And when I fall back into unconsciousness, I allow the darkness to take me.

My light is gone, and with her, all traces of the male I might have become. I am adrift once more, and this time there will be no guiding star to lead me back.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

MINA

The silence in the camp is eerie.

Since we broke ground here, naming this new place Unity, there has always been laughter. Chatter. A new beginning.

Now, the air stands still…and I worry that this new hope we were nurturing—survivors of an apocalypse, the rebuilders of Earth—was all just that…pure hope. Never to be made into reality.

Shifting on my feet, my ba’clan shiver all across my frame. For the last few hours, it’s all they’ve been doing. Ever since I exited the ship and came back to the ground.

For there is danger here now. An enemy we didn’t expect.

One we aren’t sure how to fight.

The Corrupted stand like silent sentinels in the center of Unity, unmoving. Unblinking. They haven’t eaten or drunk in days, simply standing and waiting.

Waiting for what?

None of us know.

Sophie, that woman with the intelligent eyes, was their leader. And she is no more. So why are they still…waiting.

I swallow hard, gaze flicking to the young girl by my side. Asha. The child He’rox and Sophie brought back with them. The one with abilities like Sophie’s. Powers neither of us asked for or wanted. Powers that now control the Corrupted.

Or do they?

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