Marcus moved first.
He strode toward me, face pale. “What are you talking about? What first life?”
Nathaniel’s voice sharpened. “Ava, stop this.”
Julian was staring at me as if he were finally seeing someone standing at the edge of a cliff.
[Six.]
I took one slow step backward.
Seraphina grabbed Nathaniel’s arm. “She’s scaring me.”
For once, no one comforted her.
[Five.]
“I spent years wanting you to come for me,” I said. “I dreamed about it. I survived for it.”
Marcus’s hands shook. “Ava—”
“But you were the ones who put me there.”
[Nine? No, we need continue countdown in order. We had Six, then Five. Next Four.] [Four.]
Nathaniel’s face changed.
Not softening.
Not yet.
But the certainty was gone.
As if somewhere deep inside him, a locked door had finally started to rattle.
“You’re not making sense,” he said, though his voice no longer sounded sure.
I smiled at him sadly.
“I know. That’s how truth feels when you’ve spent years feeding yourself lies.”
[Three.]
Julian suddenly lunged forward, as though instinct told him I was slipping away in a way he couldn’t fight with guns or power or force.
“Ava, wait.”
That word.
Wait.
The same men who had never listened to my screams now wanted one more second.
One more answer.
One more chance.
I looked at all three of them.
At the people I had crossed worlds to save.
At the people I had loved enough to ruin myself for.
And I finally understood something simple and merciless:
Saving them had never meant they would save me.
[Two.]
Marcus’s voice broke.
“Ava, don’t—”
Nathaniel reached for me.
Julian did too.
All three of them.
At once.
Perfect.
The condition was fulfilled.
I closed my eyes.
[One.]
[Departure successful.]
A white light tore through my body—swift, clean, absolute.
I heard shouting behind me.
My name.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Then the world went silent.
The last thing I felt was relief.
The last thing I thought was that I should have left long ago.
And the last thing they saw was my body collapsing in front of them, eyes open, lips curved in the faintest, saddest smile—like someone who had finally woken from a nightmare and realized it was over.