Page 31 of Fourth

“We left?” Maya said when he didn’t speak, disbelief threading through the words. “Why?”

His fingers tightened on the console, the surface warming beneath his palms as internal heat flared beneath hisskin.

The explanation came flat. Absolute. “We are going to Elaros,” Riv’En said, voice steady but iron-edged. He didn’t just mean it as a location. It was a destination carved into his bones now, as unavoidable as Final Flight itself. Acourse locked not just in the ship’s navigation but in his own blood, because there was nowhere else left forthem.

“Elaros,” she repeated slowly, like she was tasting it for the first time. “That’s your mother’s planet, isn’t it? You said before you were half Elaroin.”

Riv’En finally turned.

She stood just inside the bridge, hair mussed from sleep, wearing nothing but one of his shirts, hanging off her frame like a flag surrendered to the wind. Her eyes met his and locked there, sharp and too-blue.

“It is my mother’s planet,” he said. “Or was, since I do not believe she still lives. We will be safer there.”

Her brows pulled together. “Why? What’s wrong with Earth?”

He said nothing. Didn’t move. The import of what he had to tell her sat like lead in his chest, heavier than any weapon he’d ever carried. Not just because of what it meant for him, but because of what it meant for her. That her life was now entwined with his in a way that neither of them could undo, no matter how much he might want to protect her from it. And there was no easy way to sayit.

Maya’s gaze dropped to his hands. The skin there was darker now, not just from shadow, but from Final Flight claiming him cell by cell. Her breath caught, her eyes widening as she realized what she was seeing. Her gaze flicked back up to his face, silent, not panicked yet—but aware.

She started to reach for him, then froze, caught between reflex and denial. His fingers hovered over the console, twitching once, twice, as if fighting an invisible mass pressing down on them. That tremor wasn’t just exhaustion. It was the storm under his skin breaking through his management, and for the first time, he knew she sawit.

Her voice softened. “Riv’En. What’s happening?”

He stood then, every inch of him rigid, but restrained. Steady. He crossed to her in two measured steps, stopping just close enough that the heat of her skin scoredhim.

“I am in Final Flight.” The words escaped in a blunt statement, like a blade dulled by too manycuts.

Maya went still. Her lips parted on a quiet exhale. “I know,” she whispered, voice tight. “You’ve explained that to me. But—”

He cut her off before she could say more. “It is accelerating. Faster than I expected.”

Her breath hitched. Her hands curled into fists again, knuckles white. “Riv’En...” Her voice cracked, not just with fear but from knowing something irreversible had shifted between them. Her eyes searched his, wild and desperate. “This is real? It’s already happening?”

He stepped in closer, forcing himself to meet her eyes. Forcing himself to say it. “And you... you are bonded to me.”

Her lips parted on a sharp inhale. Maya didn’t speak right away. Her eyes searched his face as if trying to make sense of what he’d just said, of what it meant. Her pulse fluttered in her throat, visible in a quick, uneven rhythm.

“Bonded,” she repeated, voice cracking on the word. “You mean... it’s real. It’s permanent.”

Riv’En gave a single nod. “Yes. It cannot be undone.”

Her breath left her in a rough exhale. One hand lifted to her collarbone, fingers brushing over her Mating Flame, tracing the faint pulse there.

“And if you...” she started, voice faltering. “If you fall—”

“If I fall,” he said quietly, cutting in before she could finish, “you may fall with me.”

Maya froze. Her breath caught mid-inhale, the movement visible in the tense line of her throat. Her eyes widened, sharp with panic that wasn’t spoken yet, but clear in the rigid set of her shoulders. Riv’En watched her, the weight of that reaction settle in his chest. It wasn’t new. It wasn’t a surprise. But seeing her process it now, so direct and unshielded, made it sharper than before.

Her face went pale. “What does that mean?”

He didn’t sugarcoat it.

“It means if I die, you may die with me. Because of the bond.”

Maya’s breath caught and she shook her head, her pale hair tumbling about her shoulders in disarray. “Then we fix it,” she said, voice already climbing. “We go back to Earth, we find someone, we—”

“No.” His voice cut through the air, quiet and absolute. “There is no Earth anymore. There is only Elaros. We go to Elaros so they can protect you if I’m unable to.”

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