Page 19 of Cold Ignition

Present.

But not unaffected.

“He’s not coming,” Alexios had said eventually, the words quieter than he had intended.

Rangi had taken a moment before answering.

Then, simply—“No.”

There had been no argument.

No reassurance.

Just the same understanding that had always existed between them.

Something had changed.

Coming back to the hideousness that was their current reality, Alexios opened his eyes.

The hotel came back into focus—the dim light filtering through broken windows, the soft sound of wind moving through empty space, the weight of the present settling back over him.

Rangi hadn’t moved.

He was still there, still watching, still holding that quiet line between readiness and restraint.

Alexios pushed himself upright, rolling his shoulders once before crossing the short distance between them. He didn’t speak immediately, simply letting his shoulder brush Rangi’s as he came to stand beside him, grounding himself in something real.

“We’ll get out of this,” he said eventually.

Rangi glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. “We always do.”

Alexios huffed a soft breath, his gaze drifting toward the shattered window, toward the horizon beyond it.

Toward possibility.

“If help comes,” he said, more to himself than anything else.

Rangi didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Because they both knew.

If help came, it would come fast. Decisive. Dangerous.

The kind of help that didn’t hesitate.

The kind that moved like it already knew the outcome.

Alexios’s lips curved faintly, something sharper threading through the expression.

If Ahi walked through that door—if the man behind the fire and speed and silence stepped back into their world—then whatever had been left unfinished all those years ago would finally have a chance to become something real.

Not a gap.

Not something missing.

Something more.

Something that had always been waiting.

And for the first time since they had gone to ground, Alexios allowed himself to consider it fully.