Dean doesn’t sound offended. He sounds tired. “She’s out for payback,” he says plainly. “And if you heard her name attached to your hit, it means she’s either collaborating with Luka’s network or piggybacking on it.”
Knight’s eyes narrow. “Why would she care aboutus?”
“Because you’re part of the ecosystem,” Arrow says. “You’re connected to us. You were in the River op. The Juno op. You’ve destabilized a lot of bad systems. That gets noticed.”
“And because Serafina doesn’t just want me,” Dean adds. “She wants to dismantle what I protect.”
My stomach flips.
I hate that I understand that kind of revenge.
It’s not rational.
It’s emotional math.
Hurt me by hurting everything I love.
Knight shifts, one hand still around me, the other braced on the nightstand like he’s anchoring himself.
“She attacked Rae, River’s friend,” I say, because Arrow hinted at it earlier in the group channel before we went fully dark.
“Correct,” Dean says.
My heart tightens.
Rae Diaz is the kind of woman I’d trust with my life in a burning building and still expect her to make a joke about my exit strategy.
“She was on vacation,” Arrow adds. “Low profile. Supposed to be safe.”
“Serafina found her anyway,” Dean says. “Rae got out—barely. Holden was with her.”
“Holden?” I repeat.
“New BRAVO addition,” Dean replies. “Ex-military. Good instincts. Fast hands. He helped Rae extract.”
Knight goes quiet in that way he does when he’s processing threat models in real time. “So this isn’t just a Luka bounty,” he says slowly. “It’s a… layered hit.”
“Yes,” Dean says.
“And Northstar is the reason?”
“It’s one reason,” Dean corrects. “Serafina is a catalyst. Luka is an opportunist. And you two are high-value because you’ve become visible.”
I feel Knight’s jaw clench.
I can almost see the gears turning.
“Okay,” Knight says. “What do you need from us?”
Dean doesn’t hesitate. “Move,” he says. “Not to another random hotel. To a controlled node.”
“Meaning BRAVO safehouse?” Knight asks.
“Meaning a place we can secure without putting you on a parade float,” Arrow says. “We’ll send a drop route. You’ll get it in pieces. No single message holds the full location.”
“That’s insane,” I say.
“That’s survival,” Dean replies.
