Phone.
Wallet.
Spare burner.
Knife.
Jacket.
I leave the bat.
I scribble a note on the back of a receipt and keep it short.
Not running from you.
Running for you.
I’ll be back.
—K
It’s not enough. However, it’s all I can manage without waking her and letting her talk me out of my worst instincts.
I slide the note under the coffee mug she used earlier. Then I head for the door. The keypad blinks soft blue. The city hum is muted beyond the glass.
I hesitate with my hand on the lock.
Because Ididpromise.
Together.
Because shewillbe furious.
Because the first rule of loving a chaos girl is that she doesn’t let you martyr yourself without consequences.
But I can’t let her be the collateral for my morals.
Not tonight.
I step out into the hallway.
Lock the door behind me.
And walk into Halo City’s night like a man about to start a war?—
with no intention of letting the woman I love be the battlefield.
TWENTY
STAY PUT
LARK
For three glorious seconds after I wake up, I forget we’re on the run.
I forget the bounty. The broken cabin. The ugly motel. The new safehouse with a name that sounds like a superhero’s name.
I’m warm. Safe. Tucked into a blanket that smells clean and expensive. The morning light in Aegis is soft, filtered through city haze and tall windows, turning the condo into something almost… normal.
