“I’m asking you to corner him,” I correct.
“And if he doesn’t take it?”
“He will,” I say. “Because you won’t just challenge him. You’ll make it impossible not to.”
Verr exhales slowly, looking away for a second, then back.
“You’ve thought this through.”
“I’ve had time,” I reply.
That almost gets a smile out of him.
Almost.
“And you’re sure this works,” he says.
I shrug slightly.
“No,” I admit. “But it’s better than waiting to die.”
That earns a real reaction.
A quiet breath.
Something that almost sounds like a laugh.
“Fair,” he says.
I nod once.
“Good.”
Then I step closer, close enough that there’s no space left for distance or doubt.
“So,” I say, my voice steady, grounded. “Are you done losing?”
He looks at me.
And this time?—
There’s something back in his eyes.
Not control.
Not yet.
But direction.
“No,” he says.
“Good,” I reply.
“Then let’s make him prove it.”
34
VERR
