IVY’S POVI woke to light at the windows. It moved across the room in a straight quiet way, making the white curtains look almost clean enough to breathe through. The bed smelled faintly of lemon and the linen had the neat, faintly used softness of a place someone had taken care of. For a moment I simply lay there and let the light run over the room like an inspection. The ceiling, the picture above the dresser, the pale rug by the bed. The room looked like a sentence rewritten to make sense.There was a knock on the door. One knock, polite.“Come in,” I called, still half under the weight of sleep.The door opened and Levi stepped in. He was less prim than the room. He had on a shirt that had seen other mornings and a pair of trousers that sagged at the hips as if they had been measured by time. He moved like someone who could be quiet even when he was thinking loud.“Asher and Kai left for supplies,” he said. “If you need anything, come find me.”He said it without pressure. He stoo
IVY’S POVWalking into the villa felt nice.My stomach did a small, hopeful flip. Even that felt like progress.Mark was on the steps with a tray of fruit and small pastries, the house manager’s uniform slightly rumpled. He smiled when he saw me, but there was something else in his face too. Guilt, soft and quick. He set the tray down on the low table and lingered.“Welcome,” he said.“Thanks.”The air smelled faintly of lemon and salt. It made me want to breathe slow, to let the city noises fall away.Mark looked at my shoes, then at my hands. “You look… well.”I could see he wanted to ask more, to undo what had happened and fix it with words. He swallowed and settled for, “If you need anything, you have only to call.”There was worry in his voice, an apology that did not need to be spoken for him to know it was meant. I thought of the last week, of closed windows and hurried whispers, and the sharp relief I felt to be going somewhere new. I put a hand on his arm.“You’re fine, Mark. R
IVY’S POVI woke to the soft rhythm of Asher’s breathing beside me. The morning light slipped through the blinds in faint lines that reached across his face. For a moment, I just watched him sleep. His expression, usually drawn tight from the weight of too many plans, was calm. Almost boyish. He looked like someone who had finally stopped running.I brushed a strand of hair off his forehead and smiled to myself. He’d stayed the night without meaning to. He never did that before. I liked the quiet of it. No guards outside the door. No urgent calls. Just the two of us in a silence that didn’t demand anything.When the clock struck seven, I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him. My feet barely touched the floor as I reached for my robe. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and paused. The reflection looked rested for the first time in weeks.I dressed quietly in jeans and a plain white shirt, something simple enough for what I planned to do today. A small sense of purpose had
I closed my book and let my fingers rest on the cover for a long beat. The night felt like a small, soft thing around me. I was tired in a way that had nothing to do with the day and everything to do with the last few weeks. People kept saying try to get some sleep, breathe, take time for yourself. It sounded like advice from a different life. Tonight, for the first time in days, I believed it.I padded to the edge of the bed and sat, grateful for the mattress that did not ask questions and the lamp that gave a warm circle of light. The apartment was quiet in the way that said the building was still awake somewhere else, but not here. I thought about calling Nana. I always thought about calling Nana. There was something about saying her name out loud that made the world feel less sharp. I reached for my phone, thumb hovering over her contact, and then let it fall back to my lap.It would be too late. She went to bed early now. The night had the way of shrinking people, of shifting hou
DAMIEN'S POV The hotel suite on the forty-second floor was silent except for the faint hum of the city below. I didn't bother turning on the lights. The glass wall in front of me reflected my own outline a still figure in a black shirt, shoulders stiff. Behind the glass, the city glowed in scattered patches, like a battlefield after the fires had gone out.I didn't come up here for the view. I came because I needed to think without anyone's voice in my ear.I had lost more men tonight than I'd expected. A whole squad, gone. The safehouse at the dock burned, the hostage pulled out under my nose. I'd planned for a trap and walked into one instead. That should have made me furious. It didn't. Not yet. What sat in my chest was something colder. The kind of anger that waits.Jace would have been disgusted. My brother never forgave mistakes not his, not anyone else's. I used to curse him for it. Now I missed it. He would have stood here beside me and said what I already knew: I had underes
The radio's static was sharp in the quiet room. Asher pressed the earpiece harder to his ear."Say that again.""They're here," the lookout's voice came, low and urgent. "Two trucks. Armed. Looks like Damien's men."Asher's eyes found mine. There was no fear in them, just the focus of a man who'd been through too many of these nights."They've taken the bait."For a heartbeat the house felt still, like the world itself was holding its breath.Then Kai was moving, pulling on his vest, his voice a calm command. "Levi, get the drone up. I want eyes on the riverfront. Ivy-" he looked at me, "stay sharp. If Damien's smart, he'll try to flank us."I nodded, my pulse already climbing. "I'm not sitting this one out."Levi gave me a brief grin as he checked the drone's controller. "Good. We could use your eyes."Mark slipped into the room with a tray of fresh ammo clips and bottles of water. His face was unreadable. I didn't miss the quick dart of his eyes toward the radio.Asher's tone was cl