“Yeah,” I said. “She is.”
“Fucking Christ, Halo.”
“I know,” I whispered the response.
“Why do you need me?”
“Because I can’t keep her safe. Not where I’m going, and once it’s done…” I paused, jaw locked. “Once it’s done, I disappear. She goes free.”
“You’re still running the same old playbook, huh?” Havoc sounded tired now. Not angry, just tired in a way only people like us ever got. “You always were that selfless type that pissed me off. So you’re going to save the girl, die the martyr.”
I didn’t argue. Because we both knew it was true.
“I need her off the grid. Hidden, protected, quiet. You’re the only one I trust to make her vanish and stay invisible until I know the coast is clear.”
“You think she’s gonna forgive you for this?”
“She’s not supposed to.”
Another long silence, and then Havoc exhaled.
“Send me the coordinates. I’ll come for her.”
My grip on the phone tightened. “Thanks, V.”
“Don’t thank me. Just make sure no one comes looking for her. I’ll hide her, but you know I won’t fight for her.”
The line went dead. On the contrary, I knew Havocwouldfight for her.
I leaned against the sink, breathing like I’d just been shot again. I looked at myself in the mirror, at the eyes that looked too much like my father’s. I hated that this was the best I could give Eden. I splashed cold water on my face, dried it on the towel she’d left hanging, then I went back into the main room. She was still asleep on the cot, curled into the dent my body had left behind. I lay down beside her one last time, just long enough to feel her reach for me in her sleep. Just long enough to let myself pretend I wasn’t already gone.
I wanted to say goodbye, but I knew if she was awake when I left her with Havoc, she’d fight me. She’d ask me what the hell I was doing, why I was running from this.
But it wasn’t running. It was the only way to keep her safe, and she couldn’t understand that. I had to let her go back to the world she belonged to. Hernormal.Her freedom. I’d vanish like I was never real and maybe in time, she’d believe that I wasn’t. That’s what ghosts were for. That’s whatIwas made for.
And so when this was over, when Matteo was gone and the last loose thread was cut—so would I be.
No loose ends.
No tracks to follow.
No return.
It was the only way to make sure she lived. If I stayed, it would destroy her, one way or another. I could kill everyone involved, burn every scrap of intel with her name on it, erase the hit like it never happened… but it wouldn’t undo the years of enemies I had collected before this that were just waiting for that soft spot to plunge the knife.
She rustled behind me in the bed, and I turned away from her. If I looked at her, I’d lose the little resolve I had left. Her voicewould do it too. That soft rasp she always had in the mornings, like every word had to fight its way into daylight.
I grabbed the duffel near the door. Checked the weight and contents. Enough ammo.
I heard her make a sound again and then her voice, “Halo?”
“Have to go for a few, go back to sleep,” I said, trying to keep my tone even.
“That’s okay. Be careful?” She breathed, so tired that I wasn’t even sure she was consciously responding. “I’ll wait for you.”
I looked at her then, really looked at her, and, fuck, it nearly broke me.
You shouldn’t.The words didn’t make it to my lips. I walked out anyway. Because the best thing I could give her was a world without me in it. Because the only thing more dangerous than loving her was staying with her… and I’d already destroyed too many beautiful things about her.
