We run from faceless enemies, tearing down a corridor; electricity crackles in the air, blue and white until ozone burns in my nose; Tair and I shoot back to back; Cipher reaches out to me, her dyed hair streaming behind her—

“Is she okay?” Cipher’s voice jolted me back to reality.

I focused on Tair, breathing him in to bring myself. “Eva wants us to run missions with them.”

“We haven’t promised to stay,” Tair said.

“Nope. And we don’t have to.” It was up to us.

“We were hoping you could help,” Knight said, talking more to me than Tair. “The odds are really stacked against us.”

“You have no idea.” I shuddered again as he and Cipher got torn down time and time again, wherever I looked. Blood everywhere. Death down every path.

I couldn’t tell if Tair was seeing what I saw, but he squeezed my shoulder. “One day at a time.”

“Right.” I let out a deep exhale. If I pushed aside the darkness, I could see hope too. “You guys have cute kids.”

“Kids?” Knight blinked and then started glowing like a total doof. “How many?”

“Seven or eight,” I said, totally straight-faced and totally not guilty for lying about the number.

The blood drained from Cipher’s face. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

I shrugged and bit back a smile. Knight tore Cipher away, rambling on about their future while she tried to get him to slow down.

“Liar,” Tair said.

I didn’t bother denying it. “They were going to stand there interrogating us.” Until we decided what we were doing next, there was no point in getting sucked into Eva’s operation. If we wanted to fight Nagi, we would, with or without her. “I stand by my methods.”

“I’m not complaining,” he said as he drew me closer to his side.

As I leaned into him, feeling his chest rise and fall, clarity slipped over my shoulders. I couldn’t change the past and I couldn’t guarantee the future, but for once, the present was perfectly wonderful.

I was getting a chance at a real future, and that was more than I’d ever let myself hope for.

So much more. I hugged Tair’s arm tight.

We might not get forever, but we had now.

This time, I didn’t bite back my smile. I was going to enjoy every minute I had left.

Coming soon from author Lola Dodge:

Quanta: Reset, Book Three in the Shadow Ravens Series

Quanta has escaped her laboratory prison, but that’s where the good news ends.

Life at the Shadow Ravens’ compound is a disaster. She’s drowning in visions of the dark pasts and darker futures of her fellow Ravens and is plagued by her own panic-inducing memories, but Lady Eva still expects her to “train” and “participate in missions.” Plus, the food tastes like burnt plastic.