Bones exhales sharply, dragging a hand down his face. “You know this could end very badly.”
“I know,” I say. “But not going ends worse.”
Honey looks at each of them, then back at me. His voice is quieter now. “You’re not asking.”
“No,” I say. “I’m telling you what I’m doing.”
Ghost’s jaw tightens. “And if we think it’s a mistake?”
“Then you don’t come.”
That finally does it.
Bones looks at me like I’ve struck him. “You’re just going to walk back into their hands?”
“I’m walking back with my eyes open,” I say. “There’s a difference. And besides, this time I have a bargaining chip.” I place my hands over my stomach. “I have what they want. And so long as I have it, they’ll accommodate me to keep me on side.”
Hatchet steps forward, placing himself at my side without a word. It’s not defiance. It’s alignment.
Honey exhales slowly. “You always do this,” he mutters. “You decide, and the world has to keep up.”
“Yes,” I agree. “It does. And I won’t apologise for that.”
Silence stretches between us again, but this one is different. This one is charged.
Nightshade steps forward, stopping directly in front of me. His voice drops, raw and controlled with visible effort. “If you walk back in there, you’re walking into a cage.”
“I’ve lived in cages my whole life,” I reply. “At least this one will have answers.”
“And if they don’t give them to you?”
“Then I’ll take them by force.”
That stops him.
Bones lets out a slow breath. “Christ.”
Ghost nods once, decision settling. “Then you won’t be alone.”
Honey groans softly. “I hate it when she does the calm voice thing. Means she’s already decided.”
“Yep,” I agree. I look at all of them now, really look. “With me or not. But I am not waiting. I am not hiding. And I am not being escorted like a problem that needs managing.”
“Then we’re with you,” Nightshade says, glancing at the others who all nod. “All of us.”
I don’t thank them.
I don’t promise anything.
Because this isn’t a rallying cry or a bonding moment.
This is a line in the sand.
And the moment it’s drawn, the air shifts again.
Slow.
Measured.
