Warning: R18
Heat pulsed from the burning ruin of Stormbreaker Mansion. I simply watch it go down with Jack.
Ash drifted like black snow, catching in Jack's dark hair, dusting the shoulders of his coat. He didn't even flinch, he simply watched with me.
Cole's chopper was a distant rumble, fading into the night, leaving us utterly alone in the field.
Jack's arms were tight around me, his heartbeat a steady drum against my ear.
We didn't speak. We just stood, wrapped in each other and the aftermath.
The rage that had propelled me here, that had fueled the explosion, was finally spent.
In its place, a deep, bone-weary exhaustion settled, mixed with something else.
Something terrifyingly warm and vast.
Looking at the flames consuming the symbol of every lie, every betrayal, every ounce of worthlessness forced upon me, a different kind of certainty bloomed. It wasn't anger. Not defiance. Something pure.
