The grip of the guards was unyielding, their claws pricking against her skin through the thin fabric of her sleeves. Rey didn't flinch. Every step toward the West Wing felt like a step closer to the one thing that mattered, the only thing that had mattered since the day they were torn apart.
Her breath came slow and measured as the air grew colder with each hallway they crossed. The stone walls darkened, torchlight giving way to a dim, flickering glow.
Somewhere beyond the heavy silence, she could hear faint echoes, metal dragging over stone floors, and the low groans of the wind squeezing through narrow slits in the walls.
The West Wing.
Behind her, far down the corridor, Orion had followed, standing still, rooted to a spot in the corridor, watching. She hadn't looked back, but she co
