“You’ll get your home, but this is the deal,” he growls.
“Her face turns hot. She didn’t expect this. “We, uh, just met,” she says.
The commander stands. “I’ll give you time to think about the arrangement,” he says, before leaving.
The door shuts. She paces the room, running her fingers through her fiery red hair.
She can’t use her sister’s children as a bargaining chip. No matter the stakes, she can’t give them over to him.”
She was the one who persuaded Vash to come here, and this is the deal she might have to make to make sure everything goes according to plan.
The plan. Right. The alphas will not enjoy the next part of her plan.
She calms herself. It takes a good ten minutes to get ready for the outside, but when she feels her heart slow, she faces the commander and nods. “Okay. It’s an agreement. I get Esternbrock no matter what. If I die, it goes to the alphas. But if I live, you get the children. And you get me, too.”
“That wasn’t the agreement,” he says.
“But it’s the only one I’m willing to make,” she says.
Her heart turns to stone. Assuming a handshake is in order, the commander holds out his hand. Instead, she pulls him in for a hug. Behind his back, she slides her finger through his back pocket.
The commander stiffens but does not seem to feel any peculiar sensation. “Whatever you do, don’t die out there,” he says.
After they break away, the commander orders his men to free the alphas.
She feigns a look of confidence as he walks away, appearing pleased with the results. He might think he won, but she still has the upper hand.
They release Vash and Killian with their weapons. The alphas pick up the children. They appear morose, and Ruby can’t stop thinking about the deal she has made. She has to keep moving.
She hides her sadness with a lucid outward confidence. “We have access to the region. Let’s go,” she says.
They exit into a cloudy sunrise. A mist hangs in the sky, a remnant of the ruined world. Carabaro was lucky to survive the fallout, but they’ll never see a clear summer sky again.
“We’re free? What did you tell them?” Killian asks.
Vash eyes her.
Ruby tells them half the truth. “I told him I would marry him,” she says.
Vash jumps in front of her. “For what?”
She walks around him. “Because I knew he’d give me what I needed,” she says.
Killian groans. “We should have followed Lucas. This was a bad idea trusting her.”
“Lucas is on his way to the Iron Eye. It’s a death trap. We had no other choice but to keep moving,” Vash says.
Ruby stays silent.
“The options should have been discussed,” Killian growls.
For a while, they walk. Ruby knows what to do, but she wants to see the city. A long brick walkway takes them to an old market. Though it’s daylight, the stalls are closed. The city has boarded up most of the homes. The alphas that walk through the streets keep their heads fixed at the ground.
It’s quiet.
“It’s different from what I remember,” Ruby mutters to herself.
Vash glances ahead at the end of the road. A large cemetery rests past a gate. “I came to see my father’s grave,” he says.