Kelsea’s voice is low, but it cuts. “You always knew you might.”
I glance at her. “Yeah. I did.”
She doesn’t flinch when I lay the coilgun on the table. Doesn’t blink when I wire the fallback charge under the floor mat. Just stares.
“What are you expecting?” she asks finally.
“Anyone,” I answer. “Everyone. That leak’s gonna burn hot. Someone’s gonna want me gone before the flames spread.”
Her jaw works, like she’s chewing the words before she speaks. “And you’re ready for that?”
“I’ve been ready since before I met you.”
She looks down at her hands. “That’s not supposed to make me feel better, you know.”
I pause, then step toward her, lowering myself onto the cot’s edge. “I’m not trying to make you feel better. I’m making sure you survive it.”
She doesn’t look up, but her fingers twitch. “What if I don’t want to survive it without you?”
The words sit between us, heavy and raw.
I reach out, press a hand to her shoulder. She stiffens, then leans—just barely—into the touch.
“You will,” I say quietly. “Because you’re stronger than you think.”
She finally lifts her eyes to mine. “And what about you? You gonna run if this goes sideways?”
“No,” I say. “I’ll finish what I started.”
We sit there a long while, not talking. Just listening—to the creak of the metal around us, the distant hum of power lines, the quiet breath of waiting.
Eventually, she reaches for my hand.
Not quick. Not desperate.
Just deliberate. Final.
Her palm finds mine, her fingers curling in tight.
I don’t say anything. Just grip back. Let her have that certainty, even if it’s borrowed.
“Roja,” she says softly.
“Yeah?”
“If we make it out of this… if we burn it all down and walk away… what then?”
I meet her eyes.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I want to find out.”
She doesn’t smile.
But her fingers don’t let go.
And for now, that’s enough.
CHAPTER 20
