Lila watches us, mouth tight. “He’s not wrong, Ki. Much as it pains me to say those words.”
“Lila, stop it.” Cam taps a finger on the table. “We’re all on the same page about the goal; we just need to redefine roles.”
Cam drags a map closer and points. “Mara’s house is operational.” A circle. “We don’t know if there are other locations yet, but we will find them.” He looks over to me. “When we do, though, we’ll have to change who does what.”
Nodding, I take a step toward the table. “You and Lila will take tactical point. You make the hits, run the kids to Mara or other safe houses. Kiera and I run command and control. I’ll help with tactical if needed.”
Lila raises an eyebrow. “Since when did I get promoted to battering ram?” She asks, but there’s a sharp, pleased edge under the sarcasm.
“Since you were just promoted to auntie and you’re psychotically good at getting in and out of bad places, apparently,” I say. “Plus, the kids like you.”
“That is true,” she snorts. “But they like you and Ki more.”
“Not true,” I say. “I terrify them. You terrify their enemies. Big difference.”
Cam looks between us. “Okay,” he says slowly. “We need to build out a network so if anything happens to one of us, the rest doesn’t fall apart.”
“Exactly. For now, this warehouse is our primary base. We need to tighten the security of this place. We treat it as if we’re already under observation.”
“Because we probably are. Cicada may not know exactly where we are yet, but they know we burned their house and stole their files. They’ll start pulling threads.”
“Let them tug.” Kiera’s voice is cold and calm in a way that sends a shiver coiling down my spine.
Cam clicks his pen. “Risk assessment,” he says, looking at her directly. “Pregnancy changes your thresholds. Where are we going to put Kiera that’s safe?”
Kiera opens her mouth, then closes it. When she speaks, her voice is flatter. “I’m not sitting in a tower while you three die for me.”
“No one said tower.”Jesus fucking Christ, woman. “You’re still in the fight. You’re just not fighting. You're intel. The brain network, planning. You’re the one who understands how your parents thought, how they would’ve structured Cicada, and their horrors. You’re the best person to anticipate their next move, but you can’t be the one absorbing the impact when they swing.”
Lila nods her head in agreement. “Also, have you seen what you’re like in front of a whiteboard?” She winces. “It’s terrifying, but useful.”
A reluctant huff escapes Kiera. “You want me to turn into Cam.”
“Fuck, no,” Lila immediately says. “One of him is more than enough. We want you to be you, just less…explodey.”
“Kiera, think about it this way.” Cam grabs her attention. “When you’re on the front line, we gain one very lethal asset and risk losing our newest asset if something goes wrong. When you’re running point on strategy, we gain a whole system that keeps working even if a mission goes sideways. It’s a shitty trade emotionally, but tactically it’s solid.”
Kiera drums her fingers on the table, restless. “I hate that you’re making sense,” she mutters.
“Someone fucking has to.”She’s going to give Cam grey hair before this baby is here.
I watch her while they talk. The way she keeps shifting her weight, like she’s testing where she stands now: weapon, mother, Cicada’s monster, our ally.All of the above. “Timeline?” I ask Cam when there’s a pause. “How long before we have to vanish completely?”
Cam sighs. “Best guess? A couple of months if we play it right. Weeks if they get a lucky hit.”
“And Ki?” I ask.
Cam glances at her, then back at me. “The second trimester is when visibility kicks in. And risk goes up if we stay in one place too long. We need to be ready to move her off the board before that. New identity, new location, minimal digital footprint.”
“You’re talking like I’m not here again,” Kiera snips.
“We’re talking like we have to think ahead for you, because you’re still wired to volunteer for the worst job in the room.” I shrug. She needs the truth.
Kiera scowls. “You say that like it’s a flaw.”
“It is now. You don’t get to martyr yourself. Not anymore.”
Kiera’s gaze drops to the table, to the lines and circles and arrows. When she looks up again, her eyes are clearer. “Fine. We’ll build the damn network and run the ops from here. When I start to show, we disappear, but we still work on this.”
