Chapter 28 · The Prey List

The door slammed open and Grimm stood there, gun drawn, eyes scanning the room like he expected bodies.

He found three people standing. Two bleeding. One smiling.

Rona didn't move. Her hand was still pressed to the seal plate, blood drying on her fingertips, and her mother's voice was in her head. Not memory. Not imagination. Ghost was talking, low and urgent, words nobody else could hear.

*They'll come for both of us now. You need to move first.*

Grimm's gun swung toward Ghost, then Dax, then dropped half an inch when he saw Rona. His face did something she'd never seen before. Not anger. Not even fear.

Guilt.

"Rona." His voice came out rough. "Step away from her."

"No."

Dax shifted left, putting himself between Grimm and the table. His enhancement was still lit under his skin, veins glowing faint blue, but he looked tired. "She knows, Grimm. All of it."

Grimm's jaw worked. He didn't holster the gun. "You don't know anything. You think you do, but—"

"I know you lied." Rona's voice came out flat. No heat. Just fact. "You told me she was dead. You told me she betrayed us."

"She did.