We got out fast.
Cold night air hit Amanda and she hissed softly, fingers tightening in my jacket. I pulled her closer, keeping my arm locked around her waist, grounding her with every step.
The van waited two blocks down.
Ariel jumped out as soon as the doors opened, running straight to Amanda. “Oh my god.”
“I’m okay,” Amanda said, though her voice shook.
I lifted her into the back, wrapped a blanket around her, and climbed in beside her. Her hand found mine immediately,fingers threading through like she was afraid I might disappear again.
I didn’t let go.
Cap’s voice came through my comm. “Bring her home.”
I looked down at Amanda, her head resting against my shoulder, eyes finally closing as exhaustion claimed her.
“I am,” I said.
And this time, I meant it.
23
AMANDA
The van ride back felt longer than the drive out, even though I knew it wasn’t.
I sat pressed into Wrecker’s side, wrapped in a blanket that smelled like oil and cold air and him. My fingers stayed curled around his hand, not because I thought something terrible would happen if I let go, but because I didn’t want to. My body still hadn’t fully settled. The shaking came in small waves, starting in my hands, spreading up my arms, tightening in my chest until my teeth clicked together.
No one talked much.
Brutus drove. Cap sat up front, quiet. Ranger leaned close to Hailey, murmuring something low and steady. Ghost was already back on his tablet, shoulders tight, jaw set.
Wrecker didn’t move away from me. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t tell me to breathe. He just stayed there, solid and warm, one arm around my shoulders like a constant I could measure myself against.
I stared at the floor of the van and told myself it was over.
The compound gates came into view, floodlights slicing through the dark. Relief surged sharp and fast.
Home.
The van slowed. Stopped.
And my body reacted before my mind could catch up.
My stomach clenched. My throat tightened. The air felt thinner, like it had lost weight. I drew in a breath and felt it snag halfway down.
No.
I felt it then, the familiar slide. The edge of it. The place where panic liked to rush in and take over if I let it.
The warehouse flashed in my head. The wall. The pressure. The weight of him too close, too solid.
My heart beat fast and hard enough to hurt.
Not now.
I pressed my feet flat against the floor of the van. Cold rubber. Solid. I focused on the ridges in the mat beneath my boots. Counted the bolts along the side panel. One. Two. Three.
