My stomach drops. “Arrow.”
“He missed the last check-in window.”
The world goes razor-thin.
“Excuse me?”
“He was due twenty minutes ago.”
Gage adds, softer, “We’re probably fine. Signal interference inside the club is heavy. He might be stuck in a back corridor. Could be nothing.”
Could be everything.
My pulse roars in my ears.
“So you didn’t tell me to ‘stay put’ because you’re confident,” I say slowly.
“You told me to stay put because if something goes sideways, you want me locked in a box where I can’t help.”
Arrow doesn’t answer.
Thatisan answer.
“Send me everything you have,” I say.
“Lark—”
“I’m not asking.”
Gage says my name, warning-quiet.
I ignore him. “Arrow. If Knight is compromised, I am not sitting on a couch waiting to be informed.”
A long pause. Then Arrow says, low and rough, “You do not go in daylight. Do you hear me?”
I close my eyes.
Because I can work withthat.
“I hear you.”
“And you do not go alone.”
I sigh. “We’ll see.”
“Lark.”
“I said I hear you.”
He exhales. “There’s a service entrance on the east end. Two blocks off the main strip. The cameras are old. The back alley is monitored intermittently. If you’re going to be reckless, be smart-reckless.”
I open my eyes.
Arrow Maddox-trained is a terrifying blessing.
“Copy,” I say.
Gage mutters, “I hate this.”
