“I’ll get on the changes.” The blond woman, whose arm was in a sling, stood. Ashley, was it? “We’ll send everything through secure channels—map overlays, purchase-tracking algorithms, any human intel that’s more than a rumor.”
“Thanks, Ash.” Brie gave a tight smile. “We’ll need as much as you can tell us about the Greek Fire and your operation to help us refine our search.”
I tracked the blond woman as she tucked her tablet under her arm and headed for the door. She walked behind Rav, and I forced myself not to look at him. He wasn’t looking at me, so why was it so hard tonotlook at him?
My fingers found their way to my scarf, as though I could hide myself from him. As though it mattered. So what if he saw what happened? He wouldn’t care, would he?
“We’ll provide everything we have on Fenix’s operation,” Evelyn said in response to something I’d missed.
Brie tapped her tablet, and the big screen shifted. Will began discussing logistics—safe conversations about data transfers, security protocols, and confidentiality agreements. I focused on the technical details, keeping my responses professional and concise. Anything to maintain the fragile composure I’d built around myself.
Across the table, Rav watched Will’s presentation. Everyone else was doing the same, so why did it bother me that he’d only looked at me once? He was so calm, as if my presence didn’t faze him. At least in Mnemis, he’d reacted—it had been surprise, but at least it was an emotion.
The message was clear: whatever we’d been to each other, it was over.
You knew that six years ago, Brooke. Why did you think it would be different now?
Because we were on the same continent? In the same room?
It’s better this way, Brooke. Cleaner.
But the ache beneath my scars suggested otherwise.
Chapter 2
Rav
I kept my breathing even,but my posture was tight.Relax.My insides churned like a steamer crossing the North Atlantic. Brooke sat directly across from me, watching Will’s data presentation. Her dark hair hung in waves to her shoulders, over a beautiful scarf that made her stunning green eyes practically glow.
I’d never seen pink on her—beige, camouflage, gray, black—but never pink.
It had been a lifetime since I’d seen her. When she showed up in Mnemis last week, it had thrown my world off kilter. And now? Now she was here, in my space, bringing with her all the ghosts I’d tried to outrun.
“These purchase patterns give us a few targets we can focus on,” Will was saying, his slight British accent more pronounced after his year away in London. “We’ll add the additional chemicals into?—”
A vibration cut through the room. Scarlett glanced down at her phone on the table, and I caught the fleeting hint of a smile, so subtle I might have missed it if I hadn’t known her since we were kids. “Well, that’s interesting.”
Evelyn cocked her eyebrow at her daughter. “Something we should know?”
“A message from Noah.” Scarlett let everyone see her smile. “Apparently, we’ve ‘severely damaged Fenix’s digital communications network,’ and he’s not happy about it.”
Noah. The man who’d spent the last six months manipulating Scarlett, who’d orchestrated Emmett’s kidnapping, who’d put our entire team at risk repeatedly. The man who’d let everyone believe he was dead for two years before resurfacing as one of Fenix’s operatives.
And of course, Scarlett’s former fiancé.
Brie let out a long breath. “That confirms our virus worked. It must have infected their systems more deeply than I anticipated.”
After being forced at gunpoint to help Lark steal whatever parts of the Greek Fire formula Pendragon had left in place, Brie had been carrying the weight of that responsibility. This confirmation offered her some solace.
“Perfect,” Jayce said with a satisfied smirk. “About time we hit them where it hurts.”
“Noah?” Percival’s brows drew down. “Is he a source you have inside Fenix?”
“Not exactly,” Scarlett replied, reclaiming her normal guarded expression. “He’s been running operations for Fenix for years. We only discovered it recently.”
“You’re telling me you have direct communication with a high-level Fenix operative?” Percival’s voice carried a sharp edge of irritation. “Why didn’t he warn you about Lark?”
“It’s complicated.” Malcolm hated that his fiancée was still in touch with her ex almost as much as I did. “Noah has a history with our team, but he doesn’t feed us intel.”
