I pulled out my phone and typed a message to Griffin.
Rune:Tomorrow, when something happens, and it will, I'm not going to cooperate with anyone trying to use me against you. Whatever Soo-jin tries to do, I won't stay passive.
A response came two minutes later.
Griffin:Are you sure?
Rune:Yes.
Griffin:This makes everything more complicated.
Rune:Complicated is harder to control.
Tomorrow, something would happen. And when it did, I'd be ready.
Ready to act.
Chapter nineteen
Griffin - Seattle - May 17
Everything looked fine.
That was the problem.
Fine meant that if something went wrong, people would say it came from nowhere. Fine meant they'd blame me for not seeing it.
My phone buzzed.
Rune:Something feels off.
My heart pounded. I started typingWhere are you?then deleted it. He'd just told me the problem.Something feels off. Asking his location wouldn't fix that.
Griffin:Stay with Jinwoo.
The three dots appeared. Stayed there. My thumb hovered over the screen, waiting for whatever he needed to say.
Nothing came through.
I pocketed the phone. The absence of his response sat heavier than words would have.
I was scanning monitors when movement registered at my left shoulder. I turned and found Eamon in the flesh, standing there as if he'd been there forever.
Damp around the collar. Rain darkening his coat sleeves. Hair combed back, but humidity tightening it into loose waves. Calm. Intentional.
Behind him: the McCabes, Mac and Michael.
Present. Two steps back. Wide stance. Eyes open.
Witnesses.
"You came," I said.
He nodded. "Seattle."
The corridor air felt colder. Or it was my nervous system doing what it always did when I thought about the last time I'd been in my home city under pressure. The last time I'd watched a story form around me with no way to stop it.
I swallowed once. Dry throat. Too alert to drink water.
