Brielle
I got to the holding unit before Ryder did.
The building was small and plain, tucked at the edge of the eastern district. It looked like the kind of place you'd walk past a hundred times without noticing. I stood outside the front doors with my arms crossed, watching my breath fog up in the cool morning air, while trying not to check my phone every ten seconds to see if Ryder had texted.
He hadn't. That was fine. I didn't need him there yet anyway.
I'd barely slept, and it showed. My eyes felt heavy, and I'd had to redo my braid twice that morning because I kept fumbling it, my mind somewhere else entirely.
I kept replaying the last text Ryder had sent me. “He doesn't have a choice.” Those four told me exactly how serious he was about this, and exactly how little room there w
