“I’m sorry for leaving you,” Rae explains. It’s not the time to explain or apologize, but they have both seen the end without the other. Twice. There is no place worth living without the alphas.
She continues, eyeing the others in the peripheral. “You must understand. I couldn’t stay. I was in a state of shock. I thought I had to let my life go for things to get better. I blamed myself for what happened. And… I was lied to, as well. I was told I was born with the extinction gene.”
Vash hangs his head. “There’s no need to explain. Save your sister.”
Rae finds the courage in herself to do the one last task she never thought would happen. With the last ounce of her strength, she carries Ruby into the unknown. She head back into the throne of the fragile devil.
Ruby clings to Rae’s shoulders loosely as they navigate one last time through the upper network of caves. The tank baby is losing water, but there is still time.
She finds the altar, and hooks it up. It starts to glow, and the baby instantly falls asleep.
“I shouldn’t have hurt you,” Ruby says. “I was jealous. I wanted to be just like you, but I was born broken.”
Rae carries her to the other synthesis tank. She smells her scent one last time. She can’t stop kissing her cheek, her nose, her forehead. “We both were. They tore us away from each other. We never had a fair chance,” she says.
“We were expendables in an experiment that turned into an industry,” Ruby whispers. “I’ll give myself credit. I got this far.”
“You got farther than any of the others, and you’re going to come back even stronger. All of what you are will go into that baby. Do you hear me? You’re not dying.”
Ruby grabs Rae’s face. “Sister, I’m dying. And there’s nothing you can do about it. This is it.”
They reach the synthesis tank. The pale glow terrifies her, reminds her of the drowning she nearly experienced.
Rae gasps and frantically holds Ruby, praying for some kind of alternative. “Ruby, I need you.”
“You have the pack,” she whispers with a smile.
“I need my sister.”
Ruby’s eyes seem to go black. “I need to tell you something.”
“Tell me,” she whispers.
“I was gone anyway. Before this… I lost control of my legs. I fainted. I knew I was degenerating. Had known for some time. I played the waiting game for a while, but I knew I needed to tell you I was dying. Synthesis was my only hope.”
“Ruby,” Rae whispers.
“Listen,” Ruby snaps. “I made a deal with the commander of Carabaro, Prynthas,” she says.
Rae frowns. “What kind of a deal?”
“I told him I would marry him,” she says.
“You said what--”
Ruby speaks quickly. “Only if I lived,” she says. “Now that I’m dying, the deed will go to you.”
“Deed?”
“There’s a village in the north, 100 miles from Dagon called Esternbrock. It’s yours. You don’t need to rule over anyone. You don’t need to work. All you have to do is raise your children with those alphas,” she says.
Rae swallows. She doesn’t know what to say. All of this has happened so tragically fast. Her heart is empty. How can she even think about life after this?
“You can’t die…”
Ruby clutches her sister. “I’m dying, Rae. But you’ll live. You’ll be given a home where you and your family can finally live in peace. You’ll get the life you truly deserve,” she says. “It’s the one thing I did to make things right. Please. Take the opportunity.”
Rae lets go. She feels the cold air envelop her shoulders. She wonders what life could have been like if the world didn’t fall to war and conquest. Maybe they could have gotten to know each other and developed their connection.