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Darrow scoffed with a smile. “Only banished then?”
“It could be worse.”
“Yes …”
They looked at each other in silence. The years had passed by since their innocent youth where everything had once seemed so simple.
“Where will you go?” she finally asked him.
“Don’t know. Somewhere where I can spend some time in peace to wrap my mind around things. Again.”
Nadia drew a shaky breath, but she didn’t need to steel herself for this. “You can see her. If you want to.”
“What?” For all their strange encounters since he’d come back, she’d never seen him truly shocked. Not even when the hybrids turned up. Not like this. He’d expected this even less.
“I’ll let you see her. If that’s what you wish.”
He nodded and then it turned into a head shake. “It might be best not to. You said it yourself. She doesn’t deserve our lives. You were only half right about that.”
She knew this wasn’t the time to push. Darrow had been through a lot in his life, most of it against his will. “Just know that you can always change your mind.” She walked closer to him and reached out her hand. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Take it,” she said and proffered a photo, holding it out with the motive up. It was one of the photos he’d dropped on the ground the day he’d seen Nell for the first time. It showed Nell and Neelofar together, each with a large ice cream in their hands, laughing at something known only to them.
“In case you change your mind,” Nadia explained. “Your mom loved our little girl so much, Darrow. That’s why she kept all those photos. To remember her by when she was away from her.”
Darrow eyed the photo, almost reminding Nadia of a scared animal. Then, slowly, he reached out, took it, and pocketed it. “Thank you.”
She dropped her hand. “You know where to find me.”
He nodded and then simply turned at headed for the edge of the roof, where he jumped over and vanished from sight. A tear slipped past Nadia’s control then. She wiped it away with her sleeve and turned to go back to her new home.
Epilogue
Smoke filled the new lab in the south wing of the Palace when Nadia entered.
“Harm?” she shouted in alarm, shutting the door behind her, not wanting any fire to spread. She breathed in smoke and began coughing.
“Harm?” She waved inside the large space and bumped into something, a table. Her enhanced sight wasn’t enhanced at all in the smoke.
“Here. Wait, stand still. I’ll come to you.” A moment later, the air became breathable and Harmiston formed through the thick smoke.
Nadia drew deep breaths, thankful for the clean air. “What’s going on?”
“I’m practicing.”
“Practicing what?”
Harmiston cracked a wide smile. “You’re going to love this, Nad. Look.” He looked up and so did she. “The city mages helped me figure it out. Nadia noticed the smoke had been pushed away from them and that they were inside a dome, see-through this time until black and gray sigils came into view and floated around them on the dome surface.
“And this is?”
“This will enable us to breathe on the surface. Think about it. I can use it like the concealment shield. We won’t need the gas masks.”
“You’re right,” Nadia said and stepped closer.
“About what?” said the chronicler who was still staring up, puzzling out the sigils in his busy mind.
