“When would we leave for Seattle?” she asked finally.
“Tomorrow evening,” Kate answered from the tablet. “Private flight from Tallinn to a small airfield outside Seattle. Custom clearance, no immigration.”
Evelyn nodded slowly, her fingers still tracing circles on Sophia’s back. “And this new unit... what would you call it?”
“Still Edge Ops,” Ethan said. “Just a different edge now.”
She looked down at Sophia, studied her sleeping face for a long moment. The little girl had stopped whimpering in her sleep since the extraction, but her fingers still clutched atEvelyn’s shirt with desperate strength, as if afraid her mother might vanish again.
“I need to think about it,” she said finally, looking back at Ethan. “I need to be sure this is the right choice for her.”
He nodded, understanding in his eyes. “Take the time you need. But we move tomorrow regardless.”
The meeting broke apart, each person drifting to separate corners of the farmhouse to process what had just been offered, what had just changed. Gage didn’t move from his chair, his breathing labored, hands still trembling. Alistair murmured something to him too quiet for me to hear.
I stayed beside Evelyn, close enough that she could feel my presence but not so close as to pressure her decision.
“Will you help me put her to bed?” she asked quietly.
I nodded, standing to lead the way back to the small room where they’d been resting. As we walked, I felt the weight of the future pressing on my shoulders. Not just my future now, but potentially theirs too. A new life in Seattle. A new purpose. A new family formed from the ashes of what we’d all lost.
If she said yes.
CHAPTER 28
EVELYN
The knock camesoft and hesitant, so unlike the confident rap of the team. I’d just gotten Sophia settled into deep sleep, her small body finally relaxed after an hour of fighting rest. The sound made my pulse spike.
Trent opened the door before I could move. Gage stood in the hallway, leaning heavily against the doorframe. Sweat plastered his dark hair to his forehead. His face had gone gray, his eyes too bright with fever. He looked like he might collapse any second.
“Need to talk,” he said, voice rough as gravel. “To both of you.”
My stomach dropped. I knew what this was about. The information Trent had found in Montana—the truth about Sophia’s conception. The violation neither Gage nor I had known about until days ago.
“Come in,” I said, moving to his side. “Sit before you fall down.”
He made it three steps before his legs gave out. I caught his arm, felt the tremor running through him, the unnatural heat radiating from his skin. Together, Trent and I guided him to thechair by the window. He sat hard, breathing like he’d run miles instead of walked down a hallway.
Alistair appeared in the doorway, medical bag already in hand. He must have been hovering nearby, watching for this exact moment.
“Give us a minute,” Gage said, waving him off without looking up.
Alistair’s gaze found mine, a question in his eyes. I nodded. Whatever Gage needed to say, he needed to say it. Alistair withdrew, closing the door with barely a sound.
Silence pressed down on the small room. Gage stared at his hands where they gripped the chair arms, shaking so badly he couldn’t keep them still. His jaw worked like he was chewing words too big to swallow. I sat on the edge of the bed, my body tense, waiting. Trent stayed standing near the door, giving us both space but close enough to intervene if needed.
“They told me,” Gage said finally. His voice cracked on the words. “About Sophia. About what they did.”
My breath caught in my chest.
“Subject L-7.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “That was my designation. My DNA. They took it while they were cutting me open and rebuilding me into their weapon. Used it to make her.” His fevered eyes found mine. “Without asking either of us.”
The words landed like blows. I’d known this was coming—had known since Montana when Trent discovered the truth in those files. But hearing Gage say it out loud, seeing the raw pain in his face, made it real in a way nothing else had.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered. My throat felt too tight. “I thought she was Langston’s. When I went through the IVF, they told me—“ The words stuck. “They never said she wasn’t his.”
“I know.” Gage’s hands curled into fists, the tremors making the gesture look violent instead of controlled. “They used us both. Turned our bodies into resources. Made a kid withoutconsent from either parent.” His voice dropped to almost nothing. “Made her to be what I am.”
