A party in the orange grove. The pain on Linden's face is immediate. I am unwavering. He has cost me more pain than I will ever be able to repay.
Lauren DeStefanoBefore I can process whatโs happening, Deirdre has opened her hands and Linden has taken the ring from her and slipped it onto my finger. โRhine Ashby,โ he says. โMy wife.
Lauren DeStefanoHe kissed back, all the pages spread out around us like riddles waiting to be solved. Let them wait. Let my genes unravel, my hinges come loose. If my fate rests in the hands of a madman, let death come and bring its worse. I'll take the ruined craters of laboratories, the dead trees, this city with ashes in the oxygen, if it means freedom. I'd sooner die here than live a hundred years with wires in my veins.
Lauren DeStefano