Jace goes still above me.
For a terrible moment, I think I've made a mistake. Said too much too soon. Broken whatever fragile thing we've been building.
Then he kisses me. Soft and sweet, the gentlest kiss he's ever given me.
"Stay with me," I say.
"Always."
He rolls to the side, pulls me against his chest. I tuck my head under his chin and let myself drift.
Chapter Nineteen: Jace
Thecallcomesthreedays after Elliot tells me he loves me.
I'm in the kitchen, making coffee, watching the snow fall through the window. Elliot is still asleep, curled in the bed we've barely left except for food and necessities. The bruises on his wrists are fading to yellow. The shadows under his eyes are less pronounced. He's healing, slowly, in ways both visible and invisible. Even his body is slowly filling out and gaining color.
My phone vibrates on the counter. Encrypted channel. Jagger's.
"Report," I answer.
"Good news for once." His voice is tired but lighter than I've heard it in weeks. "The tribunal ruled. Preliminary verdict came down this morning."
"And?"
"Webb's been stripped of his directorship. Pending full investigation, he's under house arrest. Assets frozen. Network beingdismantled piece by piece." A pause. "It's not over, but it's a start."
Something in my chest loosens. Not relief exactly—I don't trust relief. But something close.
"What about the files? Moore's archive?"
"That's the other reason I'm calling." I hear him shift, papers rustling in the background. "Jinx and I retrieved the documents three days ago. There's a lot here, Jace. Years of documentation. Coded entries, financial records, names I recognize and names I don't."
"Protocol Omega?"
"References. Enough to know it's real, it's big, and it's connected to at least four Custodian houses." He pauses. "Including ours. And Westpoint Academy. It’s got everything… including blueprints for a new facility."
I absorb this. File it alongside everything else I've learned about the organization that shaped me.
"What's the next step?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Jagger's tone shifts, becomes more cautious. "This investigation is going to take months. Maybe longer. The encryption on some of these files is decades old. The financial trails lead through shell companieson three continents. And there are people involved who will kill to keep this buried."
"You're telling me to stay out of it."
"I'm telling you that you've done enough." His voice softens, just slightly. "You got Elliot out. You exposed Webb. You started something that's going to change everything. But the next phase isn't your fight."
"Whose fight is it?"
"Mine. And Jinx's." A dry laugh. "Turns out all those years of playing the loyal Ministry soldier gave me access to things I never thought I'd use. Contacts, clearances, information pipelines. I can move in spaces you can't without drawing attention."
I think about what he's saying. About the implications.
"You're going undercover."
"I'm going to finish what you started. Find out what Protocol Omega really was. Who was involved. Why our father died." His voice hardens. "And I'm going to make sure the people responsible pay for it."
"That's dangerous."
