Chapter 27 · No More Dying

"Don't."

Noah's hand froze on the gun barrel pressed to Iris's temple. His eyes flicked to me. Blood ran from his hairline, down his jaw, dripping onto the metal floor.

"Don't what?" he said. "Don't finish what you started? Don't make her pay for the shit you both covered up?"

I stepped forward. Slow. Hands visible. "Don't pull that trigger."

"Why not?" His voice cracked. "Give me one reason, Cade. One reason I shouldn't make you watch her die the way I watched Miller bleed out in Kabul."

Iris didn't flinch. Her eyes stayed on me. Steady. Waiting.

"Because I'm not running this time," I said.

Noah laughed. Raw. Bitter. "You ran twenty-six times. I counted."

"Yeah. I did." I moved another step. The core hummed behind him, that sick blue glow crawling up the walls. "But not this one."

"Too late for heroics." He shifted the gun, angling it toward the core access panel. "I punch this in, the whole Protocol collapses. You, her, Vera, everyone stuck in this loop—gone. No reset. No second chance."

"Then you die too," Iris said. Her voice didn't shake. "You're coded into the system same as him. You collapse it, you collapse yourself."