Chapter 6
556 Words
Chapter Six
Sage
I barely finished typing the last line of my report when the door to Kade’s office slid open.
“Voss.” His voice carried across the floor, low and unmistakable.
I saved the file, stood, and followed him in without a word.
The office was as stark as he was—minimalist, tactical, not a single personal item in sight. Everything in it was there for a purpose. Just like him.
He didn’t sit. Neither did I.
The door slid shut behind me with a soft hiss, locking us into the stillness.
“What happened out there?” he asked.
“Be specific.”
“With Agent Neris and her friend.”
I met his stare head-on. “They walked up to me while I was writing my report and started calling me names. w***e. Barbie. Said I slept my way onto Alpha. I responded.”
“You called her out for cheating. Loudly. In front of the entire ops floor.”
“Didn’t raise my voice once.”
“You knew people were watching.”
“I wasn’t the one looking for an audience.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. Just watched me, jaw clenched like he was biting down on something worse than words.
“You could’ve handled it differently,” he said eventually.
“I was working. They weren’t. I didn’t escalate anything—I ended it.”
“And the vision?”
“Unprovoked,” I said simply. “Hit me the second she opened her mouth. Can’t ignore it once it’s there.”
“And you don’t think it would’ve been smarter to take it to command?”
I let out a quiet breath. “Kade, I don’t lie. Not by choice. Not by magic. When I see something, it doesn’t just sit quietly in the back of my mind. It pushes. It claws. If I’d held that vision in, it would’ve cost me more than her dignity.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
Then he stepped closer. Not too close. Just enough for the weight of him to be felt. Just enough to make the space feel smaller.
“You’re not subtle,” he said.
“Not interested in being.”
“You’re not easy to manage.”
“Not your job to manage me.”
A flicker of something passed through his eyes. Not anger. Not quite admiration, either. Something caught between.
“You know what this place is,” he said quietly. “You know what happens when someone makes too many enemies inside it.”
I nodded. “They get eaten alive.”
“And you?”
“I eat back.”
Another stretch of silence. Then, finally—his shoulders relaxed just a fraction.
“You’re back in rotation tomorrow. Training bay. Seven sharp. Wear field gear.”
I turned toward the door, then paused.
“If I see something about you,” I said over my shoulder, “you want me to say it?”
His voice was low. “Only if I can survive hearing it.”
I gave a faint, knowing smile. “We’ll see.”
The door slid open. I walked out calm, composed, already mentally shifting toward what came next.
But I could feel him still watching.
Still trying to figure me out.
Good.
Let him try.
- Writer
