The word detonates something in me.
“I’m going to find out who,” I say.
Finn steps closer.“Kael—be careful.If you push too hard—”
“Then she’ll pull away more,” I finish.
He nods.
We stand in silence for a moment.Not as teammates.Not as rivals.Not even as friends.
As two men who both want to protect the same woman.
Two men who both failed her yesterday.
Two men who both know neither of us gets to lose her.
I break the silence first.
“Don’t tell Atlas.”
Finn almost smiles.“God, no.”
Atlas would burn the city down looking for a ghost.
Finn pulls on his gloves.“We need to keep her safe.”
Safe.
That word hits the deepest.
“I will,” I promise.
Not to him.
Not to the team.
Not to myself.
To her.
He nods once and heads toward the ice.
I stay where I am for another moment, staring at the empty doorway she disappeared through.
She came home last night with Finn.
Not scared.
Not alone.
Not falling apart in the streets.
She trusted him.
And the sick truth is...
I’m grateful.
