"Now." His voice was rougher than before. "Go talk to him."
I'd had a whole speech queued up about choice and partnership and don't manage me. It dissolved.
What came out was small. "...Okay."
Eloquent. Really changed the power dynamic there, Harper.
His eyes softened. Half a degree. Just for me.
Then they hardened again, because we both knew what came next.
In the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face until my hands stopped shaking enough to use them. The mirror showed someone with pupils blown wider than the light called for.
When I came out, Vane was on the comm with Aton. Signal protocol. One tap on the bond and Vane comes through whether the locks like it or not. Aton in the corridor with the override.
He killed the call and looked at me. Whatever had been in his face fif
