“Answer.”
He scrubs a hand through his hair. “Because I watched the longest. I learned your patterns, what made you close off when talking, and what made you stay in chat with us.”
“And?” I prompt.
“And I didn’t want to be the reason you disappeared.”
I study him. Really look.
“Interesting,” I say, mostly to myself. “You’ve never sounded like you were scared of me disappearing.”
“Because I’m not.” His voice drops, and the honesty lands heavier than it should. “You never gave me a reason to believe you would… And I was watching you too closely to care if you tried. I wasn’t going to let you get far.”
I turn to Silas last, because he’s the spine of this thing. It’s so clear in the way they defer to him when they think I’m not watching. I bet his word is law.
“You’re the tone shift,” I accuse, a smile threatening to take over my lips. “The pressure. The reason I kept wondering if I was talking to one person or more, but you weren’t the one who answered that question.”
“Yes.”
“You deleted messages.”
He shrugs. “Some.”
“You installed the camera outside my front door without telling them.”
“Yes.”
I lean forward, arms folded on the tabletop. “What else?”
He doesn’t hesitate to match my movements. “I prepared. For Daniel. For escalation. The possibility you’d never trust us.”
“And you watched my life,” I add.
“Every second.”
The silence stretches, highlighting the challenge between the two of us.
The clear calculation.
“That should bother me,” I drawl.
“It doesn’t,” Silas replies. It’s not a defensive statement, though it is… strangely factual.
I smile, but it’s not sweet or kind. It’s that feral thing inside me, baring its teeth at another predator.
“You’ll be my favorite to fuck with.”
Kieran makes a noise somewhere between surprise and warning. “Eris?—”
“What?” I lift a shoulder, gaze locked with Silas. “We’re being honest, aren’t we?”
Silas’s mouth twitches despite himself. And I know he’s figuring me out. There’s a twinkle in his vivid blue eyes, an insight he’s exploring.
I set my cup down, fingers steady as I tap the table.
This is the moment.
The pivot.
