Chapter 19 · Traitor File

Keira stared at the screen. Taren's face. Five years younger. Same sharp jaw. Same cold eyes. The clearance code sat right there under his photo like it had every right to exist.

She couldn't breathe.

The archive room was too quiet. Just the hum of the terminal and her pulse hammering in her ears. She'd come here looking for the bastard who burned her team. She'd expected a name she didn't know. Some faceless officer in coalition intelligence. Not him.

Footsteps in the corridor outside. Heavy. Purposeful.

She killed the screen. Ripped the data chip out of the slot and shoved it in her jacket. Her hands were shaking. She hated that. Hated that after five years of being dead she could still feel this kind of angry.

The door opened.

Taren stepped in. He saw her face and stopped. "Keira."

"Don't." She kept her voice flat. Didn't trust it not to crack. "Don't say my name like that."

He closed the door behind him. Locked it. That sent a jolt of adrenaline through her spine. She shifted her weight. Checked the distance to the vent in the back corner. Old instinct.