Chapter 19 · Termination Clause

Cole's chest burned where the round punched through.

He didn't feel the ground when he hit it. Just Ivy's hands on his vest, her fingers slick with his blood, her voice saying his name like she could drag him back by sound alone. The pain came after—sharp, cold, spreading fast.

"Stay with me." Her face filled his vision. Soot on her cheek. Eyes wide. "Cole, stay with me."

He tried to tell her it was fine. That he'd done this eighty-two times before. That dying didn't scare him anymore. But his lungs weren't working right, and the words came out wet.

The screen on his wrist lit up.

Contract violation. Target preserved. Loop continuity compromised.

Ivy saw it. He watched her eyes track down to the display, watched the confusion turn into something sharper. She grabbed his wrist, turned the screen toward her, read the message twice.

"What is this?" Her voice shook. "What does that mean?"

Cole coughed. Blood in his mouth. He couldn't answer. Couldn't do anything but watch her face as she scrolled through the screen, her thumb smearing red across the glass.

She found the log.

Loop Eighty-Three. Loop Eighty-Two. Loop Eighty-One.