Push me.
Shut me out.
Instead…
Her shoulders shift.
Not weaker.
Just… letting me in.
“This doesn’t end clean,” she says quietly.
“It never does.”
“If we do this,” she continues, “there’s no going back. No hiding. No pretending we’re off-grid.”
I step closer.
Close enough to feel the heat coming off her skin.
“Then we don’t go back.”
Her breath catches.
Just barely.
But I feel it.
“This could take everything,” she whispers.
I reach up, my hand settling lightly against her jaw, my thumb brushing her cheek.
“Then it takes everything,” I say. “As long as it doesn’t take you.”
Her eyes soften.
Just for a second.
And that’s all it takes.
Decision made.
She turns, moving to the small secured case tucked beneath the table. Pops it open. Inside—sleek, military-grade equipment. Compact. Purpose-built.
She pulls out a device I’ve never seen before.
No markings.
No identifiers.
Just power.
She sets it on the table.
The flash drive beside it.
“Once I start this,” she says, glancing at me, “there’s no stopping it.”
