That’s the point.
My phone vibrates once.
Jaxon
You awake?
Khai
Yeah.
A pause.
Jaxon
You want backup close?
I glance back at the screen, at the steady pulse of her location.
Not yet.
Khai
I’ve got coverage. Stay available.
Jaxon
Copy.
I open Emmy’s messages now, my thumb hovering over the last thing she sent.
I’m not yours.
My jaw tightens.
I don’t text her. Not now. Not when she’s asleep.
I check the feed one last time.
Still there.
Safe.
For now.
I stand and move to the window, city lights stretching out below, cold and indifferent.
The nightmare wasn’t about my death.
It was about losing control.
“I won’t let that happen,” I murmur into the dark.
This time, it isn’t a promise. It’s already in motion.
Chapter Eight
Emmy
