Second deadbolt.
Shoulder against the frame like I expect Dmitry’s ghost to kick it in.
It’s 3:14 AM.
I stand there in the dark with the teddy bear still tucked under my arm and blood drying on my cuffs, and my brain finally catches up to what my body already did.
I killed a man.
Not with my badge.
Not with paperwork waiting in the wings.
No “fear for my life.”
No departmental shield.
I killed him because he said Juliet’s name.
The thought should gut me.
Should tear something loose inside.
But all I feel is… quiet.
A deep, cold quiet that slides into me like a new spine.
This is who I am now.
No. This is who I’ve always been, and I just stopped pretending otherwise.
I drop the teddy bear on the counter.
The glitter heart flashes back at me like it’s laughing.
I’m scared for half a second.
Not of prison.
Not of IA.
Of how right it felt.
How the part of me that should be unraveling just… isn’t.
I wash my hands.
Scrub under my nails.
Watch a pink swirl rinse into the drain.
And I swear the man in the mirror looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.
Chapter Nineteen
Vitaly
Elliot. Orion. Callum.
