"You're out of your mind," she said finally. "You know that, right?"
"I've been told." Morgan's expression didn't change. "Usually by people who end up saying yes."
"I'm not saying yes."
"I know."
Serafina looked toward the frosted glass. She couldn't see him anymore—that massive, armored figure with the glowing red eyes—but she could still feel him there. Waiting. Watching, even through the barrier.
She thought about Aria in the ICU, breathing through a tube, waking up to a mountain of debt she didn't deserve. She thought about Angelo, skipping his heart medication because he couldn'tafford it, offering to sell his house like it was nothing. She thought about her apartment, reduced to ash, and the life she'd built that had crumbled in less than a week.
She thought about the numbers Morgan had laid out. Medical bills—just for completing the training. Tuition and a house if she went further. A pension fund for Angelo.
Everything her family needed, dangled in front of her like bait on a hook.
"I have conditions," Serafina said.
Morgan tilted her head slightly. "I'm listening."
"I'm not agreeing to any of this. Not the Hunt, not the... whatever happens after. None of it."
"Understood."
"But I'll do the training." Serafina met her gaze, held it. "I'll show up, I'll learn what you want to teach me, and I'll see what I'm actually dealing with. And if I don't like what I see—if any part of this feels wrong—I walk. No questions, no pressure, no consequences."
Morgan considered this for a moment. "And the payment?"
"The ten thousand is mine. I earned that by showing up today." Serafina's jaw tightened. "And if I complete the training, Aria's medical bills get paid. All of them. That's what you said."
"That's what I said."
"I want that in writing."
"You'll have it before you leave the building."
Serafina waited for the catch, the objection, the moment where Morgan's calm facade cracked and revealed the trap underneath. It didn't come.
"I need to be able to contact my family," she added. "I'm not disappearing off the face of the earth without being able to check on my sister."
"That can be arranged."
"Anything else?" Morgan asked.
Serafina exhaled slowly. Her heart was still pounding, her palms still damp, but something had shifted. The panic had settled into something harder, colder. Resolve, maybe. Or just the grim acceptance of someone who had run out of better options.
"When do I start?"
"Tomorrow," Morgan said. "I'll send you the details tonight. A car will pick you up at six a.m."
"No."
Morgan's eyebrow rose slightly. "No?"
"My sister is in the ICU," Serafina said. "She hasn't woken up yet. I'm not leaving until I see her, until I know she's okay."
Morgan regarded her for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she nodded. "When is she expected to wake?"
"They said maybe tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest."
