“And you weren’t ever planning on telling us.”
“No.”
Raze let out a quiet breath through his nose.He pushed off the wall, finally shifting fully into the room again.“So what now?”
I rolled my shoulders once, letting the weight settle back where it belonged.
“Now?”I said.
My gaze moved between them, steady.
“Now he decides whether he wants a war he can’t win.”
And for the first time since I’d walked in—they were looking at me like I’d just said the first logical thing since they’d met me.
8
Tone
Islipped my heels off and retraced my steps down the corridor.I lowered myself onto the staircase just outside the office.The door was slightly ajar—not enough to see, but enough to hear.
I tried to convince myself I was just being cautious.That it was nothing to do with the fact that every instinct in me still refused to trust him.Because something about Archie Popovich didn’t sit right.And I needed to know why.What was it about him that I found so dishonest?
I leaned forward slightly, breath slow, controlled, letting their voices filter through.
“…he’s been trying to remove the problem.”
Atlas.
“…not aiming for you first anymore.He’s aiming for me.”
Archie.
My brows pulled together.
What?
I shifted slightly, closer now, my shoulder brushing the wall as I strained to catch every word.
“He gets a clean shot at you.”
Silence.
“Why not just kill us both, then?”
A beat.Long enough that something in my chest tightened.
Then Archie spoke.
“Because Vilevski knows exactly who I am.”
I frowned.
That didn’t?—
“And he knows he’s a dead man walking if he kills me.”
The words landed the wrong way.Too heavy.Too certain.I stilled completely, my breath catching.