The Grim (Ravens #3)

xxxii. brother and goodbye

A/n: This is probably the worst time to post a chapter, but whatever. This had me crying. Like I actually cried. Have fun. I want to update as much as I can this weekend because I have time, and that'll probably all change again next week. 

When Emma and Ezra arrived at the rendezvous point two miles outside Monarchia's boundaries, two rovers were already awaiting them in the trees. Emma let out a distinct sigh of relief at the sight of them. They had done it. They had escaped. And now she was about to turn around and march right back in. She looked over towards Ezra beside her. He was clearly distracted, taking in every branch, every leaf, every patch of green the eye could see, his mind anywhere but the Fortress' rovers. He was safe now. He was out of the ring forever, and that was enough to put any of Emma's fears to rest. No matter what happened when she returned, she'd already won.

She whipped around when she heard the rover doors swing open, and out ran their six friends. Donny was in the lead, sprinting towards her and throwing his arms around her in a display of affection she hadn't quite expected.

"That was the easy part," she muttered, patting her friend on the back to remind him that this arrival was not the end of the journey before them.

"I know," he said. "Doesn't mean your success was guaranteed."

"Have you met me?"

"Gray sent all the recording stuff over." This was Skylar interjecting, cutting straight to the chase rather than pretending the mission was complete, as the others may have had a stranger believe. "Citizenship is complete too. You're all set."

"Welcome home, finally." Now it was Mai speaking, standing hand-in-hand with Sebastian, a sight that always made Emma laugh. She knew they'd been together for over a year, but they were in the City and she was down at Peregrin. To her, she remembered them in the Ravens' camp, circling each other like hawks for two years, relying on each other so desperately yet both too afraid to make the first move. "Welcome to the High Midwestern Fortress."

"Not yet." Emma clicked her tongue and watched as Sebastian gulped, his gaze wandering from the cloudy sky to the misty grass to anywhere but her, anywhere but the truth that she had sacrificed herself as the martyr who could end the ring, anywhere but the undeniable truth that the little girl he'd tried so hard to protect had run out of time, for there was no way in hell King Hunter Summers would let such a traitor walk out alive.

"There's a lot we have to do," said Skylar, again somehow the most level-headed of the whole group. There was a mission at hand, and she intended to get it done. Emma appreciated that. She didn't want to think about the prospect of a future she would never know. "Get in the rover. We'll debrief you on everything."

Breathing in the fresh air, the wild air she'd forgotten, she looked first at Ezra, and then at Skylar. "Just give me a minute. I'll be there." Skylar nodded and waved the others to follow her back inside as the renegades were left outside.

It took a few seconds for either of them to speak. All they could think to do was breathe. The air filled up their lungs, and for the first time they truly felt that freedom they had lost for so long. Out here it all was real, out here they were in control. They could run right now and never turn back and lose the Fortress and Monarchia and if she wanted she could live and she could find a future and out here in the woods she had all the world in front of her and that felt so good she almost wanted to cry.

She wanted to cry because she couldn't. She couldn't keep running. It was time to face her demons.

Emma reached into the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out the small radio Sebastian had given her before they ran. It was in case they came upon trouble, in case they couldn't find the rovers. She hadn't used it of course, it would have only slowed them down, but she felt its purpose now.