"They're going to get revenge on the Civilization." Hayl's dark eyes are round and serious. "He said those exact words."

We stand on the edge of the joyous Family gathering as new parents gather their grafted children into their arms. I hum with anxious energy--revenge.

"What more can he possibly do?" Orrick asks from beside me. "We saw that footage in the Tech Center. The Civilization will never return to what it was."

I turn to Ior, expecting some sort of confirmation or denial, but his mouth presses into a tight line. "Have you studied the footage?" I demand. "What do you know?"

Ior hesitates, his eyes scanning the crowd to where Audra stands, wiping tears from he eyes with a white handkerchief. "We haven't been able to do any real reconnaissance," he confesses, "so it's hard to tell what's still there, but the entire left wing and the majority of the outer buildings have been destroyed. I'm not sure what can still function."

The Underlings may not have enough food and supplies stored to keep the survivors alive under the remains of the Civilization Center, but I don't say anything with Ior here. Luk trusts him and that should be good enough for me, but I can't endanger our only remaining allies, if they're even still alive.

Ryke sneers, flipping his long hair over his shoulder. "What are they going to do? Bomb us? They already know that won't be enough."

But Ryke's wrong--yes, the Civilization is still there even after the bombs, but if Domus continues their onslaught, even the stalwart Civilization Center will completely crumble.

"Revenge," Elz murmurs, that distant, ethereal look in her opaque eyes that don't rest on anything in this world. "Haven't we had enough of that?"

Her whispered words silence us all, but this won't stop. How can it? Domus wants revenge, and whatever remains of the Civilization wants to atone for their losses. If Domus restarts this war, it may never end.

"Why, though?" I say, kneading my lip between my teeth. "They got their children back. What more do they want?"

Luk pulls away from me. "Why? Haven't you seen Ila?"

I sigh. "Of course, Luk, but the rest of the children are alright." The Civilization's experimentation destroyed Ila, not the evil drug they concocted. By the merry laughter ringing through the dome, I can tell the children have recovered their memories. "I just don't understand why your dad's so desperate for revenge."

Luk doesn't say anything in response, his eyebrows knotted. I'm not sure he understands either.
"We have to go back," Hayl says suddenly.

"Go back?" Tali asks with a snort. "Have you lost your strafing mind? Have you forgotten about--" Tali stops mid-sentence and looks at Elz. None of us have forgotten about Laird. Both sides are to blame for his death, but what if he was just the first casualty of many?

Even though I've considered returning to the Civilization, I don't want to. My stomach churns just thinking about facing it again, the Underlings and the Civilizers. I hate Domus, but I don't love the Civilization. I'd rather avoid them both, but I may have to choose between them.

"Yeah," Hayl continues. "My mom's back there, and...and tons of other innocent people. What if they need our help?"

Ryke laughs, the sound acerbic. "What the shell can we do? We have nothing and we're good for nothing."

He's right. We may have saved the Doman children, but they were our only bargaining chip. Now we're worthless, criminals in the Civilization and outcasts in Domus. Even the Underlings won't want us and our questionable loyalties.

"So we're just going to leave her to die?" Hayl asks, her voice sharp. She stands on tiptoes a foot from Ryke, her hands balled into fists.
Elz touches her arm and Hayl softens. Her pain has transformed into anger because grief is a weakness. If I had a mother, I would want to save her too.

"We don't know what's really going on there, Hayl." Hayl looks to me and I sigh. "But we'll figure something out, I swear."

Somehow, this war between Domus and the Civilization has become my weight to bear. Luk and I have had so many chances to change things. If he'd gone to Domus instead of the Underworld. If I'd told Mizpah the truth and saved Ila. If. If. If. Now I have to end this.

"Well, hello, everyone!"

One of these days I square I'm going to punch this strafing Doman.

Audra smiles at us, slipping her damp handkerchief into the breast pocket of her black suit. "I hope you've enjoyed the adoption ceremony. They always touch me."

"Were you adopted?" Tali asks with a smirk on her sultry features.

Audra's smile fades a little. "Well, no, but..."

"So you would have been okay with being taken from your mom or dad and given to a new family?" I ask.

Her smile slips into a frown and she glowers at me. She doesn't care much for me either. "That's not what the Grand Adoption is. It's a celebration of wholeness and unity."

"So that must mean you're married, right?" Hayl says, disconcerting Audra further. She turns in a circle, looking between our angry faces.

"Well, uh, not yet, but soon, hopefully--" She casts an amorous glance at Luk on the word soon.

"Really? You're not married? A beautiful woman like you?" Ryke says, wearing the flirtatious grin I've seen him use a thousand times. He shakes his head mournfully. "Surely Domus must be doing something wrong if they've let a catch like you remain unmarried."
Audra lifts her chin, a wobbling smile on her lips. "Well, perhaps you're right, but I'm sure my time will come."

"Of course," Ryke says, disdain dancing in his golden eyes.

"Since you're so enjoying the ceremony, would you permit me to escort our guests back to their quarters in your place?" Ior says from beside Luk.

Audra smiles at Ior. "Oh, would you mind? That would be wonderful. Thank you, Ior."

Ior nods, then turns his back on Audra and ushers us away from the crowd. I release a sigh of relief. All I want right now is to sit down and mull all of this over. It has to make sense, but it's still a puzzle in my mind.

"I'm going to see Ila," Luk murmurs in my ear, his hand warm on my forearm.

I turn towards him so our faces our close together. "You didn't say two words back there. What do you think of all this? What's going on? Has your father told you anything?"

Luk expels a long breath, the hot air tickling my face and fogging my thoughts for a moment. "I don't know what's going on. I want to talk about it with just you before we do anything."

Just me. Like back in the Civilization when it was Luk and I against the world. My heart rises in my throat. I've missed you.

"Okay."

Luk grins a little, a dimple forming in one cheek. It's the first time he's smiled since we got to Domus. Since before I was captured and he escaped to the Underworld. His gaze drops from my eyes to my mouth and he touches the split in my lower lip. I lean into him involuntarily.

"I'll be back," he murmurs, and presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth, not quite on my lips but close enough to make me hunger for him. I lean into him, but he's gone.

"Where's he going? Off to hang out with his dad?" Orrick asks, watching him go. I bite back a sigh and straighten.

"He's going to see Ila."

Orrick doesn't say anything and Ior approaches my other side, nodding at me in greeting. "Please, let me help you," he says, taking my arm. I glance at him in confusion, but I can't walk without my crutches so I have to let him help me. Orrick, Elz, and the rest walk ahead of us, but Ior walks slowly to allow distance to grow between us.

"Is there something you wanted to say?" I ask, my voice sharp. I don't trust this man or anyone from Domus besides Luk. Not after their strafing adoption ceremony.

"You and Luk are close," he says, a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah."

He doesn't say anything else and I wince as his long strides cause me to put too much weight on my leg. He slows down even though I'd rather not spend another minute with the man. Luk told me Ior was Addi's sister--no doubt he sees me as some kind of interloper, trying to replace Luk's dead wife. His eyes don't look at me with hatred, however. Instead, they're shrewd and discerning.

"You must hate me," I finally say when the silence grows too heavy.

"I don't hate you," Ior says, not looking at me. He stares ahead at Elz and Orrick, walking silently together.

"Why not?" I ask in between labored breaths. "I could have saved Ila, but I didn't. And I'm Luk's...I'm with Luk, and you're Addi's brother. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me."

"I don't hate you," Ior repeats, the tone darker. "The way I understand it, we owe Ila's recovery to you. Hers, and all of the children your Civilization captured. They would be fractured shells without you."

I balk under the unexpected praise. I may not be a villain, but I'm certainly not a hero. Hayl concocted the cure and Mother Greer perfected it. Luk led the Underlings in rebellion. I've done nothing.

"You did what you needed to do," he says. "I can respect that. I'm sure it wasn't easy."

My heart swells in gratitude. Of course it wasn't easy, but he's right. I did what I had to. I made the impossible choice, and now I have to live with it.

"What about Addi?" I ask, my voice softer now.

I may not understand family, but I have a brother and strings of my heart still yearn for the boy left outside the Civilization to die. Eya. That pain doesn't go away, and Addi's loss must still linger in her brother's heart.

Ior flinches but still doesn't look at me. One of his braids brushes against the soft skin of my shoulder. "Addi loved Luk and Ila more than anything in this world," he says. "And if you care about Luk half as much as he cares about you, I hope you'll take care of both of them. Addi would want them to be happy."

Happy. Is that what I'm supposed to do? Magically make Luk happy despite our circumstances? And what am I supposed to do with Ila, the bereaved child I destroyed who I can barely look at?
"Yeah, well, I don't know if any of us will ever be happy again."

We round the corner of the sidewalk towards the bunkhouse. The others have disappeared inside, but I hesitate at the doorway where I lean against the frame. Ior's face is made up of dark planes and slanted eyes that give away nothing.

"You're not like the rest of them," I say. "Audra, Father Paul, Greer."
Ior cocks his head, one hand on his hip. "And not all civilians are the same. We would all do well to remember that."

He turns and walks away before I can say anything. When I return to the bunkhouse, I lie down on my bed and feign exhaustion to give myself time to think. Day fades to evening, and I still ponder Ior's words. Not all civilians deserved to die. Not all Domans are compassionate mothers and fathers. We are not the families or societies we are a part of; we are individuals and deserve to be judge for our own merits.

I don't realize it's night until the door opens and Luk slips inside, his figure shrouded in darkness. Instead of going to his own bed, he crouches in front of me and touches my shoulder.

"Ren?" he whispers, his blue eyes visible through the dark. "Can I sleep here?"

I gulp back my surprise and slide over in the bed, the cotton sheets rough against my bare skin. Luk slips off his shoes and shirt and slides into the bed next to me. He reaches for me like there's nothing between us, his arm pulling my waist into him, hot on my bare skin. Luk pulls my head under his chin and holds me so there's nothing between us. Nothing.

I release a long breath, and for the first time since everything went wrong, I want to break. I haven't been able to shatter; I've had to be strong, but now that Luk is still here with me, I start to shatter from the weight on my back. This tension between the Civilization and Domus, which I have to end. The suffering which can't continue. Luk pulls me close, my head pressed to his chest, and I silently sob. I release the weight for just a moment and Luk helps me bear it.