I nod, curling my fingers around my glass, the chill of it stark against the warmth in my chest. “I think I really like Halo,” I say softly. “I mean, yeah, it’s freezing, and the snow gets in everything, and I might’ve almost lost a toe to the cold once, but… there’s something about the trees there. And the way the quiet feels alive.”
I pause, rolling the glass gently between my hands.
“I avoided it for a long time. That’s where we lost Dad when the world just ruptured.” I glance toward the torches, watching the flames flicker. “But now, I kind of hold on to the fact that all our last best memories were made there too.”
I take another sip, then glance back at her, a grin tugging at my mouth. “Mom said you were the best hunter and tracker she ever knew. You tracked her to a whole different world.” I nudge her with my elbow, playfully but impressed. “That’s the kind of thing I’d brag about in every conversation, if it were me.”
I shrug a little, smile going wry on the topic of Ronin. “I am used to people being overprotective. Even though I'm perfectly damn capable.” I grin again, sheepish. “Still. Even I can admit that going up against Pierce probably would’ve been a mistake. I like my bones unshattered.”
And when my Nonna pulls me in, her arm around my shoulders, I lean into her without thinking. The motion just fits. Like I’ve done it my whole life.
Her words land like fire in my gut—hot and bold and a little unreal. I blink at her, incredulous, and then laugh, caught off guard by the fierceness of it. “Gods, Nonna.” I’m grinning, teeth and all, before ducking to take a long sip of my drink. I let it burn its way down, same way her words do.
“I just want to help,” I say after a second, quieter but still sure. “I want to make a difference. Somewhere. To someone.”
but my god, you're alive and it's spectacular
