The machine kept running. Eamon and the McCabes slipped out, ghosts with documentation.
Above us, muffled but unmistakable, the show was ending. Last song. Crowd roaring.
Rune had stayed on stage.
He’d held formation while I fought for the right to keep protecting him.
I needed to see him.
Chapter twenty-two
Rune - Seattle - May 17
The green room door closed behind me with a soft, final click.
Thirty-five minutes had passed since the final encore. Long enough for the crowd to disperse and the crew to begin breakdown.
The corridor beyond the door still hummed with activity, voices calling out equipment numbers and the hydraulic hiss of a loading bay door descending. The venue was being dismantled around us the way it always was, piece by piece, until no evidence remained that seventeen thousand people had screamed themselves hoarse in this building.
In here, the air smelled of sweat and hairspray. Heat still clung to my skin under damp cotton.
Griffin stood near the far wall, half in shadow, positioned where he could see the door.
When he looked at me, his expression changed little. His eyes did. They softened. Like he'd been holding himself rigid and only now allowed the release.
"You're here," I said.
My voice came out hoarse from holding everything in.
"I'm here."
He didn't move first. He waited until I crossed the space between us.
I stopped close enough to feel the heat from him. Close enough that I could have leaned in and pretended the world didn't exist. My hands hovered, not sure where to land.
He watched my hesitation.
"What happened?" I asked.
Griffin exhaled through his nose. Controlled, choosing every word.
"Seattle PD arrested him twenty minutes ago," he said. "Assault charges. Conspiracy. They're reviewing audio evidence Do-hyun pulled. It was an admission about Micah Nakamura. They've notified LA authorities. They'll likely add charges related to the truss incident."
My throat tightened. "He's actually—"
"In custody," Griffin confirmed. "Not reassigned. Not quietly managed. Arrested."
The word landed with a weight I wasn't prepared for.
For years, I'd watched the machine absorb problems. Smooth them over. Reframe them until they became acceptable losses or restructuring decisions.
I'd never seen it fail to protect itself.
"VFM's legal counsel tried to negotiate," Griffin continued, voice even. "Wanted to handle it internally. Chief Kang and Do-hyun had already contacted the venue's security director. He brought SPD in before management could contain it."
I reached out and wrapped my arms around him, still listening.
"In the audio recording, Soo-jin admitted he assaulted Micah and planned to frame me. That's evidence in a criminal case now. Management can't make it disappear. Neither can Soo-jin."
