That stopped me.
“I know,” he repeated. “Because once they see you, once they decide you’re useful or interesting or unfinished… they don’t like letting go.”
My stomach twisted. “So what happens now?
His jaw tightened. Not with fear, but with resolve.
“Now,” he said, “you’re not facing that alone.” I swallowed hard, pressing my forehead into his chest. My hands loosened their grip on his shirt, fingers aching.
The room came back to me in pieces. The weight of the blankets, the heat of him behind me, the faint hum of the compound settling into night. Somewhere outside, a door closed softly. Footsteps crossed gravel and faded.
My body was still trembling, but the worst of the panic had crested.
Shame slid in to take its place.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked.
“For waking you. For… this.” I made a small, helpless gesture at myself. “For being a problem you didn’t ask for.”
His hand stilled.
“This isn’t a problem,” he said.
“It feels like one,” I replied. “Cap said you’re my shadow.” My throat tightened. “That means you’re stuck with me. Watching me. Guarding me. Cleaning up whatever mess I make next.”
I waited for him to correct me.
He didn’t.
Instead, he went very still behind me.
“That’s not why I stay,” he said quietly.
My breath caught. “Then why?”
He exhaled slowly as his gaze fixed on the far wall like he needed the distance.
“Because I know what it’s like to hear screaming and not make it in time.”
The words landed without drama. Without warning.
Just truth.
I didn’t move. Afraid that if I did, I’d break whatever line he’d just crossed.
“Overseas,” he said quietly. “Before the club. Before any of this.”
His hand stilled on my back.
“Village on the edge of a supply route. We had bad intel. We were told it was clear.” His jaw tightened. “It wasn’t.”
I stayed still, listening.
“There was a woman,” he continued. “A civilian. She’d been hiding people. Mostly women and children. Moving them at night, feeding them, keeping them quiet when she could. She was trying to get them out and somewhere safe.”
Pressure bloomed behind my ribs.
