Chapter 31 · No More Clean Loops

"You're not going in there." Mara's voice cut through the basement like a blade.

Eira didn't flinch. She stood near the blood diagram, arms crossed, jaw set. "It's not your call."

"Like hell it's not." Mara moved forward, but Rowan caught her wrist. The contact burned. Loop mark or just proximity, he didn't know anymore.

"Let go," Mara said.

"Listen to her first."

"I did listen." Mara yanked free, rounded on him. "She just told us someone stays behind. Forever. You think I'm letting your sister walk into that?"

Eira's laugh was sharp, bitter. "You don't let me do anything, Captain. I haven't been the girl you remember for six loops now."

The temperature in the room dropped. Rowan felt it in his chest, the way the mark pulsed cold.

"Six?" Mara's voice went quiet. Dangerous.

"Six full resets." Eira tapped her temple. "Every time you two die or fail, I wake up at dawn in the safe house. Alone. I've watched Rowan hang twice. I've pulled your corpse out of the canal once. I've seen the city walls collapse and the sea come in black. So don't stand there and tell me what I can handle."

Rowan's throat locked.