Callie’s POV
I wasn’t going to stay.
The decision didn’t come from impulse, nor from a chaotic reaction to what I had just discovered. It came from something much clearer, colder, more definitive—as if a part of me—not just mine—had understood before the rest that staying meant yielding, and yielding, in that moment, was exactly what I couldn’t allow.
I moved before saying anything.
Not in a rush.
Not clumsily.
But with a precision I still didn’t fully recognize as my own, feeling how my body responded with a different coordination—more efficient, more… aware of itself, as if every muscle knew exactly what to do before I even thought it.
“Callie,” Asher said, catching the movement instantly, “what are you doing?”
I didn’t answer.
I kept walking toward the door.
“I’m not going to
