I stood frozen. “You said we had another week.”
He brushed my words aside, flipping the folder open to reveal a small photo. “These are the coordinates. You and Maron are on extraction duty. Adonis briefed him earlier.”
I swallowed hard.
“Why him?” I asked, my voice taut with emotion. “Why Noah?”
He didn’t even flinch. “Because he’s loyal. Because he’s capable. And because you’re emotionally compromised and can’t do it alone.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t lie to me.” His voice sliced through my protest like a knife. “I saw the way you looked at him. You’re slipping.”
I cast my gaze away, jaw clenched tight. “He doesn’t belong in this. He’s not like us.”
“He’s exactly like us,” my father snapped back. “Whether you like it or not, he was made for this, just like you. Stop pretending he’s fragile. He doesn’t need your protection.”
“You don’t get to say that!” I hissed, stepping closer. “You can’t talk about him like that and pretend this is normal. It’s not. You’re asking us to walk into a death trap—”
“I’m ordering you,” he interrupted, rising to his full height, a looming presence. “You don’t get to choose your team based on who you’re afraid to lose. That’s not strength, Elizabeth. That’s weakness.”
I flinched at the sound of my full name—he rarely used it unless he meant to wound me.
“I can handle this alone,” I managed through clenched teeth. “I’ll take the mission. I’ll get it done. Just pull Noah out.”
“No.” His tone turned icy. “You don’t have that authority. He’s in. And if you sabotage the operation, I’ll know.”
My chest tightened, hands balled into fists at my sides.
“I’m trying to protect him.”
“No, you’re trying to protect yourself. You’re scared of what it’ll mean to watch him bleed for you. Welcome to the job.”
Every word I wanted to say caught in my throat, choking me. I hated him for being right, and I hated myself for wishing Noah had never agreed to this.
I lingered long after my father disappeared back into the shadows. The folder lay on the table—innocent, quiet, yet filled with chaos. I stared at it for what felt like an eternity, the weight of everything closing in around me.
Noah was in this now, and I had no idea how to save him without shattering both of us.
---- ??? ----
“Alright, I think we can officially rule out anything feathered,” I said, lifting a particularly bold black gown adorned with sequined wings.
“Absolutely,” Mary chimed in, scrunching her nose. “You’re turning twenty-six, not auditioning for an edgy version of Swan Lake.”
Lillian giggled beside her, her arms overflowing with swatches and fabric samples we’d gathered over the past hour.
“Remember, it’s a masquerade gala, not a costume party. We want sophisticated mystery, not feathered theatrics.”
With a sigh, I let the hanger slide back into place. “Right. Sophisticated mystery. Got it.”
We were nestled deep within one of the city’s finest boutiques, hidden away in a velvet-draped back room featuring a private fitting area and a chandelier that likely cost more than my car. Usually, dress shopping like this left me feeling numb—something I did for appearances, to please my mother, or to checkoff a box on the guest list. But today… today felt different.
This time, I got to choose, and this time, I was choosing with Noah in mind.
“You still haven’t told us what you’re wearing,” Mary said, narrowing her eyes at me. “You’ve seen Noah in a suit, right? He’s going to look like every dark fairytale prince ever. You need to match that vibe.”
Lillian nodded in agreement. “He’s definitely the type. All brooding eyes and that jawline. Somehow both polite and mysterious.”
