“I realized that you never needed me to protect you from the cold, Elara. You have enough fire inside you to burn down the entire city.” Gabriel smiled, a devastatingly tender expression. “I just want the privilege of standing in your light for the rest of my life.”

Gabriel slowly dropped to one knee.

Elara gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, tears instantly pooling in her eyes.

He didn’t pull out a massive, ostentatious diamond that belonged on a society page. He pulled out a simple, breathtakingly elegant ring. The band was a dark, brushed metal—forged from a piece of the original wrought-iron fire escape from her old apartment building, which Gabriel had tracked down and bought months ago—inlaid with a single, flawless, deep-blue sapphire.

“Elara Carter,” Gabriel said, looking up at her with absolute, unwavering devotion. “You are my home. You are my partner. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Will you marry me?”

Elara couldn’t speak. The tears spilled over her lashes, tracing hot, joyful paths down her cheeks. She thought of the terrified girl who had sat in his penthouse a year ago, believing her life was over. She thought of the woman standing here today, surrounded by the sanctuary she had built, holding the heart of the man she loved more than life itself.

She dropped to her knees right in front of him, ignoring the dust on the floor, and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

“Yes,” she sobbed, laughing through the tears. “Yes, Gabriel. Yes.”

Gabriel let out a ragged breath, wrapping his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her neck. They knelt together on the floor of the community center, two people who had once been broken and battered by the world, entirely whole in each other’s arms.

Later that evening, after the crowds had dispersed and the doors of The Haven were locked for the night, Gabriel and Elara walked up to the rooftop garden. The city skyline stretched out before them, a glittering sea of lights beneath a clear, starry sky.

The wind was cool, but Elara didn’t shiver. She stood perfectly still, looking at the sapphire on her finger, the dark metal of the band a constant reminder of where they had come from and the fire that had forged them.

Gabriel stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. He kissed the side of her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

“Are you ready for tomorrow, Mrs. Thorne?” he whispered into the night.

Elara leaned back into him, looking out at the endless possibilities of the city they had conquered and the people they were going to save. The crushing weight of the past was entirely gone, replaced by a fierce, soaring lightness.

“I’ve been ready my whole life,” she replied.

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