MY CRUEL PROTECTOR
I asked.
Nevan looked toward the east, toward the rising sun that promised only more blood.
"Home," he said.
"We don't have a home, Nevan."
"We do," he said, his eyes glowing with a final, unbreakable obsession. "The world is our home now, Ruby. And it’s time we showed the tenants who the landlords are."
He swept me into his arms and began to walk. The neural bridge hummed, a constant, beautiful, and terrifying song of power. Behind us, the Urals stood like silent sentinels, witnesses to the birth of a legend that would never be forgotten.