Chapter 28 · Say I Do. Burn It Down.

The screen goes black.

I'm still holding the chip. My fingers are numb. The glass wall behind me hums like it's alive, and I can't stop seeing her. Two of her. One warning me. One trapped.

Silas doesn't move. He's watching me like I'm a test he's already graded.

"Turn it off," he says.

Inez yanks the chip out. The reader sparks. She shoves it in her jacket and steps between me and Silas, but her hands are shaking.

"You saw it," I say. My voice cracks. "You saw her."

Silas tilts his head. "I saw a woman who couldn't leave well enough alone."

"She's alive."

"Was she?" He takes a step forward. The enforcers behind him don't blink. "Or was that just another memory someone planted in your head?"

Ronan growls. Low. The kind of sound that makes the air go tight.

Silas looks at him. "Still here, Vale? I thought you'd run by now."

"Try me," Ronan says.

I grab his arm. His skin's hot under my palm, and I feel the pull again. The bond. It's louder now, like it knows something I don't.

Silas smiles. Not the polite kind. The kind that says he's already won.