The elevator ride down from the observation deck felt like descending into a different world. One hundred and forty-six floors of silence broken only by the soft hum of machinery and the steady pulse of the pendant against my chest.
That went better than expected. Natalia's voice drifted through our bond, laced with exhaustion and relief. You're not dead. You're not arrested. And apparently you've made an alliance with the most powerful woman in Valoria.
She's going to use me.
Obviously. But you're going to use her too. That's how these things work. A pause. Come home, Satori. I need to see you. I need to touch you. I need to know you're real and not some fever dream I've been having for the past six months.
