Akiva felt something course through him, or many things: a tremor of love and a chill of awe, a wave of power and a surge of hope. Hope. Truly, hope was as unkillable as the great shield beetles that lay inert for years beneath the desert sands, waiting for prey to happen near. What possible grounds had he for hope? As long as you’re alive, he had told Liraz, only half believing it himself, there is always a chance. Well, he was alive, and so was Karou, and they would be in the same world.
