This is the leash.
Valentine continues as if Honey didn’t exist. “You will not travel outside designated zones. You will not contact unauthorised parties. You will not attempt to remove the implants.”
Snow’s grin widens. “And if we do?”
Valentine looks at him. “You already know.”
Snow’s grin falters. So he’s seen it too. The roof click. The shutdown. The pain behind the eyes like a bomb.
Ghost swallows hard. “You’ll…do that?”
Valentine’s voice is calm. “If required.”
Seytan watches us with interest now, like she’s enjoying this part.
“This is barbaric,” Honey snaps. “You can’t?—”
Valentine’s gaze flicks to him. “Sit.”
Honey bristles.
Hatchet’s hands flex once, slow, like he’s imagining the easiest way to split a skull.
Bones’s voice is quiet. “You’re deploying us to find Kayla.”
Valentine doesn’t answer immediately.
That pause is loaded.
It’s either confirmation, or it’s a trap to see who bites.
I bite anyway.
“Say it,” I growl. “Use us. Admit it.”
Valentine’s eyes meet mine. “Yes.”
The word is clean. No apology. No shame.
Seytan exhales through her nose, amused.
Valentine continues, voice even. “We have reason to believe Kayla is alive. We have reason to believe she is being held off-grid. We have reason to believe the people who took her have resources we cannot match alone.”
Bones tilts his head. “And you think we can.”
Valentine’s gaze sweeps over us. “I know you can.”
He gestures again. “You will receive limited information. You will work through designated channels. You will report to me.”
Honey laughs, sharp. “Fuck off.”
Valentine looks at him as if he’s watching a predictable machine. “You will.”
Seytan steps forward finally, unable to resist. Her voice is silky. “And if you find her…you bring her back.”
My blood goes hot.
I lunge.
