I’m already behind her. Sting appears at Vi’s left, Rogue at her right. We don’t speak. Don’t need to.
Her grin falters when she feels my presence at her back.
“Let go of her,” I say to Vi.
She releases the girl’s shirt immediately, stepping back. Her hands are shaking but not from fear. Adrenaline.
The girl turns slowly, eyes flicking between the three of us. “This is neutral ground. You can’t?—”
“This isn’t neutral ground,” Sting interrupts. Voice flat. “This is our hub. And you just threatened what’s ours.”
“She started it.”
“No,” Rogue says, stepping closer. “You did. The moment you walked over here.”
I lean in, voice dropping so only she can hear. “You have two choices. Walk away now. Or we make an example of you.”
The girl holds my gaze for a long beat. Then she looks past me at Vi.
“This isn’t over,” she says.
“Yes,” I reply. “It is.”
“Get out of here, you nasty cunt,” Vi hisses.
The woman backs up a step, then another. Then turns and walks toward the exit. Slow. Deliberate. Like she’s refusing to show fear. But I see it in the way her shoulders hunch slightly. The way her hands tremble before she shoves them in her pockets. She disappears into the corridor.
The hub exhales. Conversations restart, quieter now, more careful. People return to work, but eyes keep flicking toward Vi.
I turn to her. “You good?”
She nods once, but her breathing is still uneven.
“Okay.” I step back, give her space. “Clean this up. Then take a break.”
“I’m fine?—”
“That wasn’t a request.”
She scowls but crouches down and starts gathering the scattered packets.
Sting and Rogue exchange a glance, then move toward the exit without a word. I stay long enough to make sure no one else approaches her.
When Vi finishes cleaning up, she straightens, meets my eyes across the room. There’s something new in her gaze. Not fear. Not anger. Resolve. She turns and walks toward the service corridor, limp pronounced but steady.
I follow at a distance. Because I know where this is going.
And so does she.
58
ARMEN
She doesn’t go far.Just to the narrow alcove behind the old maintenance bay, the same place I pulled her aside days ago after the asshole tried to claim her. She’s leaning against the wall when I arrive, arms crossed, breathing hard.
“She’s not done,” Vi says without looking at me.
“I know.”
