(Ava’s POV)
The bunker didn’t feel safe anymore once the engines passed.
Even after the sound faded, silence pressed in hard and listening, like the forest itself had leaned closer to hear us breathe. Mara shut down half the screens, plunging the room into dim blue light. Minimal signature. Minimal temptation.
“Pack what matters,” she said. “We’re ghosts again.”
Brian grimaced as he shrugged into his jacket. I could see the pain he was hiding now, and shoulders too stiff, jaw set just a fraction too tight. He was running on will and borrowed adrenaline, and both had limits.
“You good?” I murmured.
“I will be,” he said. Then, more honestly,
“Later.”
The phone in my pocket felt heavier than it had any right to. Like it had mass now. Gravity.
Mara noticed my distraction. “Anything e
