Chapter 79 - CH 78 -The Quiet Engine

The coastal wind, carrying the sharp, clean scent of salt and cold ocean, whipped around them, a stark and bracing contrast to the warm, familiar scent of the Chimera's engine bay and the faint, ever present aroma of machine oil that clung to their clothes. Adrian held Amelia close, the solid, muscular flank of the car a steady presence at their backs, its heat a comfort against the encroaching evening chill. The horizon was a perfect, unbroken line where the leaden grey sea met the softer grey of the sky, a vast and empty canvas that promised nothing and everything all at once. The moment felt suspended outside of time, a silent, profound full stop at the end of a long and tumultuous sentence, the final punctuation on the story of their struggle.