Ash nods, stepping forward. His voice drops to a near-whisper. “We alreadyknow, Ember. The CIA, MI6—take yourpick. You’re not the first agent we’ve crossed paths with. But you’re the first one reckless enough to get caught.”
Her reaction is small. A pause, a flick of breath, a tightening of the jaw. But it’s there.
“Interesting,” Ash murmurs.
“Enough,” she says quietly. “I’m not—”
“Trained?” Wraith cuts in. His voice sounds wrong—too rough, too personal. “You move like one. Think like one. You stare at exits before faces. You remember every weapon in the room.”
Her throat moves as she swallows. “Maybe I’ve just been around too many killers lately.”
Vale laughs again, low and cruel. “Maybe you like it just as much as the rest of the monsters in the room.”
Saint’s voice snaps like a whip. “Enough, Vale.”
He grins. “Relax, Padre. She’s not your confessional.”
“I said enough,” he seethes, irritation flashing in his icy gaze.
“Both of you,” I interrupt. “Quiet.”
The room falls silent again. I walk closer until I’m standing right in front of her. She looks up at me, defiant and trembling all at once. “I’ll make this simple,” I say. “You tell me who you’re working for, and I’ll consider letting you walk out of this house alive.”
Her lips part. For a moment, I think she might give it up.
Then she smiles — small, soft, devastating. “You won’t kill me.”
Vale tilts his head. “What makes you so sure?”
“Because,” she says, voice steady now, “you don’t know what happens if you do.”
Silence answers her, and I pause briefly. We already know about the drive, but what else is she hiding? Wraith’s breathing changes behind her. Ash looks up from his tablet. Even Saint’s eyes flicker.
I stare at her and feel the shift — something cold and certain sliding into place. She’s waiting.
And for the first time in years, I can’t tell if we’ve caught our enemy… Or if she’s caught us.
Ember
The silence that follows my bluff feels like a living thing. It stretches between us, heavy and electric. Rook’s gaze doesn’t move from my face. Not once. He’s studying me like I’m something that crawled out of the dark and started speaking in tongues.
“Everyone out,” he says finally.
It’s not loud. It doesn’t have to be.
Vale looks disappointed. “Already? I was just starting to enjoy myself.”
“Now.”
Ash hesitates, searching my face once more before slipping out. Saint follows, muttering something low under his breath, maybe a warning or a prayer. Wraith lingers. His eyes find mine—one last time—and then flick to Rook. “You sure you want to be alone with her?”
“I said out.”
Wraith leaves last, jaw tight enough to crack. The door clicks shut behind him, and suddenly it’s just us.
The air feels different now. Thicker. Charged with something I don’t quite have a name for.
Rook doesn’t sit. He stands across from me, all sharp lines and restraint. Every inch of him screams control, but I can feel the tremor underneath. The kind that precedes destruction.
