“You’ll never see me again.”
The words echoed in the cold night air, sharper than the edge of a blade. I said them to no one in particular, though the truth was clear: I was saying them to her. Luna. VEGA ZERO. The only thing in the world I couldn’t protect by staying. The only person I would die to keep alive, and yet the only one I had to leave.
I gripped the wheel, hands tight, knuckles white, the leather of the steering wheel pressing into my palms like a vice. The city blurred past me...
Christmas lights, neon signs, the occasional figure on the streets bundled against the snow...
but I didn’t see them. I couldn’t. My focus was on the next move, the next second, and the choice I had made. The choice I was forcing on her.
Leaving her.
It wasn’t cowardice. It wasn’t hate. It was l
