The door closes behind him.
The lock clicks.
The sound is final in a way nothing else has been.
No one moves.
No one speaks.
The room holds its breath, but I can’t.
Because the truth isn’tjustthat my life was engineered. It’s that when the moment came – when it mattered – Nightshade chose the system over me.
And whatever answers are left…
They’re going to cost me something else to get them.
My heart.
MANAGING ME
DDDNNNAAA - Crywolf
Kookaburra
No one moves after the lock clicks.
It’s like the sound has pressed pause on the room – pause on breathing, on blinking, on whatever version of reality we were pretending still applied. Valentine’s shape lingers in the doorway even after he’s gone, like an afterimage burned into the air.
I don’t look at Nightshade.
Not yet.
That’s the first thing I take from him.
Bones is standing now. I don’t remember him getting up. Honey’s jaw is tight enough it could crack teeth. Ghost is watching me like he’s waiting for a tremor. Hatchet hasn’t moved at all, pen still in his hand, pad open at a blank page.
Everyone is braced for something violent.
They think this is where I break.
I don’t.
I turn slowly, deliberately, until I’m facing Nightshade at last.
He’s still exactly where Valentine left him. Stillness wrapped tight around him like armour. Eyes on me. Guarded. Careful. Ready.
He’s waiting for permission.
I feel something cold settle into place behind my ribs.
“How long?” I ask.
My voice is steady. Flat. That seems to throw him more than shouting would have.
Nightshade doesn’t answer immediately. His eyes flick, just once, to the others – Bones, Hatchet, Honey, Ghost – then back to me.
“Kayla—”
