So we start making plans by the glow of the compad screen. Maps, schedules, aliases—all laid out in a chaotic tangle of digital threads. I’m perched cross-legged on the couch, fingers cramping from too much typing. Voltar paces like a caged animal, arms crossed, jaw flexing in rhythm with his pulse.
We’ve been at this for hours.
Every time he opens his mouth, it’s another angle. Another contingency. Another security sweep.
“You’re not going,” he says again.
“I am.”
“You’re not staying here either. We’ll move you to the Alliance safehouse—quad-layered defenses, live comm link to central command, full lockdown protocols?—”
“I said no.”
He stops. Turns. Glares.
“You want to walk into this like it’s achoice?” he growls. “You’re not trained for this, Sable. You’re not?—”
“Not what?” I snap, jumping to my feet. “Not strong enough? Not tough enough? I’m sorry I’m not a walking armory like you, Voltar, but this ismylife we’re planning around. I get a say.”
He closes the distance fast, looming. “You get more than a say. You getme, damn it. That used to mean something.”
I flinch. Just a little.
His face falls. “Shit. I didn’t mean?—”
“Too late,” I breathe.
Silence. Ugly and raw.
Then I chuck my compad at the couch. “I’m tired of hiding. Tired of letting people shove me in closets while they go off and fight for me like I’m some breakable thing. I’mdone.”
His nostrils flare. “You think this is about you being weak? This is about me not wanting to zip you into a body bag. You think I can watch that happen andkeep breathing?”
“I didn’t ask you to save me!”
“No,” he growls, “but you let me.”
I shove him.
He doesn't budge.
I shove harder. “Why does this matter so much to you?”
He doesn’t answer.
Just grabs me.
Hard.
And then we’re kissing—violent, angry, teeth-clashing messy.
There’s no grace in it. No pretense. Just heat and rage and the terrifying weight of maybe loving someone who could be ripped from you tomorrow.
He backs me into the wall. I pull at his jacket. We crash together like a storm.
But we don’t make love.
We just kiss. And claw. And clutch.
