Zane’s expression shifts immediately.
Ryder goes very still. “That’s not happening.”
I lift my chin. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I do if it keeps you alive.”
“That’s not how autonomy works.”
Finn pushes off the counter. “Aurora?—”
“No,” I cut in. “I didn’t come here to be folded into someone else’s war. If my presence makes it worse, I go. I’m not supposed to still be here anyway.”
“You think distance erases visibility?” Ryder asks quietly.
“I think if I’m not here, I’m less useful.”
“You leave town,” he says, “and if Cole believes you matter to us, you become easier to reach.”
“That’s speculation.”
“That’s experience.”
His eyes don’t leave mine.
“If you go, you go alone. Without us. Without protection. And if he wants to prove something, you’ll be a softer target on the road than you are here.”
My stomach flips.
“I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Zane says gently. “But this isn’t a flat tire and a creepy motel clerk. This is someone who’s done worse and walked away smiling.”
“I don’t understand this world,” I admit. “And that’s the problem.”
“Exactly,” Ryder says.
I glare at him. “That wasn’t a positive.”
“I know.”
I throw my hands up. “So what, I just sit here and wait to be bait?”
“You’re not bait,” Finn says sharply.
“Then what am I?”
The room tightens.
“You’re under our roof,” Ryder says. “Which means you’re under our protection.”
“I didn’t ask for that.”
“You don’t have to.”
I laugh, sharp and breathless. “Damn it, you’re infuriating.”
“Yeah,” Finn mutters under his breath. “That tracks.”
