He looked at her, eyes sharp with panic. “You can’t promise that.”
She didn’t argue.
“That’s why I can’t,” he said. “Because once it exists outside my head, it’s real. And if it’s real, he wins no matter what.”
Shannon felt that settle in her chest. “You’re not weak for being afraid,” she said quietly.
Ezra stood, pushing the chair back just enough to scrape the floor. “You don’t understand. You can fight him. I can’t.” He paused, hands clenched at his sides. “If I say this out loud, I lose everything.” He walked away without looking back.
Dante watchedfrom the far end of the floor. He didn’t move until Ezra was gone. Then he crossed the room slowly and stopped beside Shannon.
She didn’t look up. “I failed.”
“No,” Dante replied. “You survived the attempt.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if no one will say it.”
“It matters,” he said. “It just doesn’t help yet.”
She finally met his eyes. “He’s going to escalate.”
“Yes,” Dante answered. “Because he knows you’re trying.”
Most cadets lookedout for themselves. They kept their heads down, followed orders, avoided becoming a target. But Shannon stood up for Ezra, even when it cost her.
She didn’t try to manipulate the situation or throw weight around. She didn’t threaten Krueger, even when she had enough to shake him. Instead, she documented. She acted like someone who still believed the system could be held accountable, even when no one else followed the rules. And that, more than anything, hit Dante hardest because, once, a long time ago, he’d believed that too.
Dante lay on his bunk and closed his eyes. He hated it—because, in another context, in another world, he would’ve dropped the full weight of command down like a hammer.
Say her name again,and I’ll remove it from your memory the hard way.
But that wasn’t this world. Here, he had to wait. Krueger hadn’t crossed the threshold yet. Not visibly. He buried the urge to move too soon—because of her. She acted like someone who believed in rules even when no one followed them. Hewas that kind of soldier too.
But deep inside, beneath protocol, beneath training, something sharpened. One day soon, Krueger would slip. And when he did, Olivo wouldn’t just neutralize the threat. He would erase it. What Shannon didn’t know, couldn’t know, was that protecting her was more than an assignment. It was personal.
NINE
BASIC CADET TRAINING – DAY 24
The call came after breakfast formation. “Cadet McKenna. Office of Cadet Standards. 0900. Uniform of the day.”
It was delivered without drama. Just a line on the whiteboard in the squad bay. No one else received a summons.
Mia read it twice. “They haven’t posted a rotation for standards interviews.”
Shannon finished tying her boots. “Probably follow-up from the dorm incident.”
“You were cleared.”
Shannon stood and adjusted her collar. “That doesn’t mean they’re done with me.”
Mia looked at her. “You want me to walk with you?”
Shannon shook her head. “No. I’ll be back before drill.”
She wasn’t.By 1300, Shannon’s bed hadn’t been touched. Her gear was still stowed. Her boots were gone. Her name was still on the board.
At first, no one noticed. By 1400, Mia checked the admin wing. They hadn’t seen her.
