I stayed beside him, holding his hand like it was the only thing keeping me anchored to reality.
And maybe it was.
For the first time in days, something in me settled. Not because the truth hurt any less—but because now, finally, we knew. The lies had surfaced. The masks had cracked. And beneath all of it, there was still us. Broken, bruised, uncertain—but us.
Behind me, James stepped out of the chamber with Elias close behind.
He looked at me, then at Felix, then nodded.
"He's the reason they built all this," James said, quieter than before. "Mira's brother… he's not just hidden. He is the system."
Elias stepped forward. "His power is tied to this place. The tunnels. The locks. The protections. Everything."
"And the way out?" I asked.
James turned to Elias.
"We didn't know until now," Elias said. "But there's a failsafe. If he's awakened by someone from the original bloodline, he opens the exit. It's coded into his core."
James looked back at me.
"You're the bloodline," he said.
My heart skipped. "Me?"
"Your father built this system with the others. His signature is all over it. His pendant is one of the keys. And you... you're the last piece."
I looked down at Felix's hand still in mine. Still warm, though weak. I didn't want to leave him.
"I can't do it alone," I said.
"You won't," James replied.
I nodded once, gently laid Felix's hand down, and stood up.
Step by step, I walked into the chamber.
The boy inside the pod looked peaceful. Like he hadn't aged in years. Like he was dreaming.
Mira watched me silently from the side, no longer speaking, just watching.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pendant. My father's. The one I never took off. The one that had been glowing faintly since we got here, though I never understood why.
Now I did.
I placed the pendant against the center panel of the pod. There was a click. A faint hum. And the light inside began to shift—warmer, brighter.
The boy stirred.
His eyes opened, and they were glowing. Not like fire. Like morning.
He looked at me and smiled.
"Rosa," he whispered.
I froze. "You know my name?"
He nodded. "I've always known. I was waiting."
The pod hissed, and slowly, the glass began to rise.
James, Elias, Mira—we all held our breath.
The boy stepped out and touched the ground with bare feet, eyes scanning the room like he remembered every corner.
And then—he turned to the wall opposite the chamber. One we hadn't noticed before.
He raised his hand.
The stone rippled.
A doorway appeared.
Not another tunnel.
Not another trap.
An exit.
Sunlight poured in like it had missed us.
Warm and golden.
Freedom.
We didn't speak.
We just stared, stunned.
Then I turned back to Felix, dropped to my knees, and whispered into his ear.
"Felix… we found it. We're going home."
James helped me lift Felix gently. He stirred again, half-conscious, head leaning against my shoulder as I wrapped his arm around me for support.
"I've got you," I whispered.
And I did.
We walked slowly, carefully, following the boy—the one Mira had protected, the one we had feared, the one who was somehow both a secret and a savior.
Elias walked beside him now. Quiet, respectful. Mira didn't speak. She just followed behind, eyes lowered, as if carrying the weight of everything she had done. Maybe she was. Maybe, for once, she finally understood the cost of her silence.
The light ahead got brighter. Warmer.
Real.
When we stepped through the doorway, it was like breathing again for the first time.
We were outside.
Truly outside.
Not a part of the hidden underground anymore—but standing on solid ground under an open sky. The air smelled of pine and earth and sunlight. Birds chirped somewhere in the trees, and the wind moved through the grass like a gentle hand brushing everything clean.
I turned slowly, looking behind us.
The doorway was already fading. Becoming stone again. As if the place had given us what we needed—and now it was ready to sleep once more.
Felix coughed softly beside me. His voice was hoarse. "We made it?"
I looked at him.
At the bruises on his skin, the blood dried on his shirt, the exhaustion carved into every part of him.
And yet he still smiled.
I nodded. "We did."
His fingers found mine again. Weak, but there.
"You didn't leave me," he said.
"Of course not."
Something passed between us. Something I wasn't ready to name—but it was real. Raw. And different from anything I'd ever felt before.
Mira stepped forward slowly, standing beside her brother. She looked smaller now. Not in power—but in pride. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I didn't know this would happen," she said. "Not like this."
James stared at her for a long moment. "You still lied. But maybe you were protecting something, too."
She nodded once. "I was. I still am."
We didn't forgive her.
Not yet.
But we didn't hate her, either.
Some things live in between.
The boy—her brother—turned to us, eyes full of something ancient and kind.
"You're not just the end of the story," he said. "You're the beginning of something new."
I didn't know what that meant.
But I knew it felt right.
I looked up at the sky, the clouds drifting lazily across a sun that no longer felt so far away.
And for the first time in what felt like years, I wasn't running. I wasn't hiding. I wasn't trapped underground or lost in someone else's mission.
I was here.
With James.
With Felix.
And something inside me—something quiet and scared and brave—began to believe that maybe we could build something out of all this.
Something real.
Maybe even a future.
The sunlight felt like a dream.
But pain reminded me we were still in reality.
Me, James, and Felix—we were all still bleeding.
The warmth of the open air did nothing to stop the sting that pulsed with every step. My side throbbed from the deep scratch I got during the collapse. James's arm was soaked in blood from a cut he'd ignored for too long. And Felix… Felix could barely keep his eyes open.
We'd made it out.
But we weren't safe.
Not yet.
"Sit down," I told him as we reached a patch of grass near the edge of the forest. He didn't argue. He collapsed more than sat, wincing as he clutched his ribs.
James knelt beside me, breathing hard. His shirt was torn, blood streaking down his wrist and staining the grass beneath him. He muttered something under his breath and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
I pulled off my jacket, folding it and placing it behind Felix's head. My hands were shaking as I checked the gash on his leg again.
Still bad. Still bleeding.
"I need pressure," I said, my voice tight. "James, help me hold this."
He nodded and crawled over, pressing down gently but firmly as I wrapped the last of the clean cloth around the wound. Felix hissed, his fingers twitching.
"I know, I know," I whispered. "Just hang on."
He gave me a weak smile. "You're bossy when you care."
I almost laughed. "You're lucky I care at all."
But I did.
So much more than I wanted to admit.
I looked at James. His face was pale, eyes tired but still alert.
"We need help," I said. "Real help. Medical, food, rest—something."
He nodded. "We'll figure it out. We're not far from the outer forest. There might be signal, maybe even a road."
"What about Mira?" I asked quietly.
He glanced over his shoulder.
She was still by the stone doorway with her brother, who stood calmly, as if he belonged to another world entirely.
"She's not leaving," James said. "Not yet. Maybe not ever."
I didn't press further.
Instead, I stayed beside Felix, one hand holding his, the other resting on my own wound, trying not to pass out.
We didn't speak for a while.
The forest was quiet. Birds chirped like nothing had happened. The world kept spinning, even when ours had been shaken to its core.
Finally, Felix opened his eyes again.
"Rosa," he said, voice cracked. "If I don't make it—"
"Stop," I cut him off. "You will."
"But if—"
"No."
I looked at him, firm and unblinking.
"You made it through worse. You're going to make it through this."
He blinked slowly. Then smiled. "You never used to talk like that."
"Yeah, well," I said softly, "maybe I didn't have someone worth fighting for."
He didn't say anything after that.
But his fingers gripped mine a little tighter.
And that was enough.
Felix's grip on my hand was starting to weaken, and for a second, panic surged through me again.
Then Mira moved.
Without saying a word, she stepped forward, pulling a sleek black device from her coat—something we hadn't seen her use the entire time.
A hidden communicator.
She tapped a button, murmured something under her breath, and then looked at me. "Help is coming."
I stared at her, still processing. "You had that this whole time?"
"I couldn't use it underground," she replied calmly. "The signal wouldn't pass through the shielding. But now we're out. It'll reach them in minutes."
I didn't thank her.
I couldn't.
Not yet.
Instead, I turned to watch Elias, who had taken Mira's brother gently by the hand. The boy didn't speak, didn't resist—he simply followed Elias, like he had known all along this was the next step.
"Where are you taking him?" James called out.
Elias looked back once.
"Home," he said. "He needs rest. And time. I'll keep him safe."
Then they disappeared into the trees, silent as ghosts.
Mira watched them go, her eyes unreadable.
Then she turned to us.
"The ambulance will be here soon," she said. "They'll take you to the city hospital. I've made sure no questions will be asked."
"Why help us now?" James asked, voice raw. "After everything?"
She hesitated, her calm exterior cracking just slightly.
"Because it's not about what I want anymore," she said. "It's about what you deserve."
Then she stepped back, hands raised, like she wasn't going to come any closer.
"I'll disappear after this," she added. "You won't see me again."
None of us answered.
We didn't trust her.
But we were too tired to fight.
A few long minutes later, we heard it—the distant wail of sirens approaching from beyond the tree line. My chest finally loosened. Felix sighed in relief, eyelids fluttering closed. James slumped forward, exhaustion crashing over him like a wave.
And I—
I didn't let go of Felix's hand.
Not even when the paramedics arrived.
Not even when they lifted him onto the stretcher and checked his vitals and loaded us into the back of the van.
The medics worked quickly, efficiently. There was warmth inside the ambulance. Clean bandages. IV lines. Blood pressure monitors. Everything we'd needed for so long.
I sat beside Felix while James lay across from us, eyes half-closed but still watching.
As the vehicle bumped forward, I looked out the window.
Mira was gone.
Like she said.
Vanished into the trees with the last of her secrets.
I didn't know if we'd ever see her again.
And strangely—I didn't know if I wanted to.
What I did know was this:
We were alive.
We were out.
And something was beginning between us—between me and James, between me and Felix. Maybe not fully healed, not yet safe, not simple.
But real.
The road ahead was long.
But for the first time since this whole nightmare began...
We were on it.
Together.