“This changes everything.”
Blaze steps forward slightly. “Yeah. It does.”
He reaches out.
“Let me take a look—”
“No.”
Sharp.
Immediate.
She tightens her grip on it.
And I don’t blame her.
Not for a second.
“I want to know what’s on it,” she says.
“You will,” I tell her. “But we do it smart.”
Blaze nods. “If it’s been tracked, plugging it in blind could trigger something.”
She exhales slowly.
“Okay.”
But she still doesn’t let go.
I step closer.
Lower my voice.
“We’re not taking it from you,” I say.
Her eyes meet mine.
Softening just a little.
“We’re protecting it.”
A beat.
Then she nods.
And finally hands it to Blaze.
The second it leaves her hand—
I see it.
That shift.
Like she just let go of something bigger than she expected.
I take her hand.
