Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
I stand there with my hand still extended and guilt heavy in my chest. I don’t know what to do with a man who responds to me trying to sneak away by offering directions and money.
“You’d… uh, let me leave,” I whisper.
“You’re not a prisoner, Enley.” He says it to the ceiling, still not looking at me. “You were a prisoner four hours ago. You’re not one now. If you want to leave, leave. I won’t stop you. I won’t follow you.”
“It isn’t about leaving. It’s about going after Poe.”
Something in the air shifts. He sits up slowly. The blanket pools around his waist. He rests his forearms on his bent knees and looks at me for the first time since I got out of bed. His eyes catch the moonlight and my stomach does a little flip I have no right to feel right now.
“Going after Poe,” he repeats.
“I’ve got information. Things I know about Goldenbell that could help find where they’re holding everyone. I can move faster alone. No explanations. Just me and what I’ve learned over the past months.”
I stop before I say too much. But Render’s watching me with that careful look. He’s assembling pieces of a puzzle, and I realize he’s been working on it longer than I thought.
“Months of what?” he asks gently.
The silence stretches between us.
“You know,” I say.
“I suspected. For about six months.” His voice stays raw and steady. “There were signs in Poe’s network that didn’t match anything else. Poe told me to drop it. Said it was handled. He only says that when he’s protecting someone. He was protecting you.”
“From myself.”
“From the consequences.”
The admission hangs in the air. He knew enough. Not everything, but enough to see the shape of what I’d done.
“Serafina found my traces,” I confess. The words feel heavy but necessary. “My secret work against Goldenbell. I was effective, but I got sloppy. She followed it back to Poe’s network and then to the crew. The reason everyone’s locked up is because of me.”
I’ve never said it out loud before. The words land in the dim cabin like stones.
Render stays quiet for a long time. Long enough that the generator cycles and the owl calls again. Moonlight shifts across the floor.
“So your plan is to leave,” he says finally. “Take the laptop. Take the car. Drive into the night and fix everything alone.”
“Yes.”
“That’s the same plan that got us here,” he says softly. “You worked alone because Poe wouldn’t let you in. You kept going because you didn’t want to explain yourself. You were good at it, but reckless, and now you want to do the same thing again. Alone. Without help. Without anyone watching your back.”
I open my mouth to argue, then close it. He’s right.
“What’s the alternative?” I ask.
“Stay. Work with me. Use what you know combined with what I have. Find them together. With backup. With someone watching your six while you work.”
“You want me to tell you everything.”
“I want you to stop carrying it alone.” He holds my gaze and something warm and steady moves through his eyes. It feels like more than surveillance now. It feels like safety wrapped in something deeper. “You don’t have to fix this by yourself. That’s not weakness. That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
I stand there in the dim light with the go-bag on the table and the weight of my mistakes pressing on my shoulders. I think about all the times I built walls because no one would let me in. Every time I worked alone, the work was good but the consequences were worse.
Render just named the pattern I’ve been refusing to see.
I sit down on the cold concrete, cross-legged, about five feet from him. Equal ground. Close enough to feel the warmth coming from him.
“I’ve decided to stay,” I say.
He nods, simple and steady, like my answer was always mine to give.
“But I have conditions.”
A small spark of interest lights his face. “Go ahead.”
“First, you don’t make decisions about my safety without talking to me. I’m not cargo. If there’s a plan, I’m part of it.”
He nods.
“Second, I tell you everything I know about Goldenbell. No hiding anything. And you do the same. Full honesty between us.”
“That’s fair.”
“Third.” I pause because this one feels hardest. “The guilt I carry about Poe and the crew is mine. Don’t try to take it from me or tiptoe around it. Let me carry it while we work. Just… stay with me through it.”
He looks at me for a long beat. The dim light makes his eyes difficult to read, but I catch something there that isn’t pity. It’s recognition. Warmth. Maybe even a little admiration.
“I can work with that,” he says.
“Good.”
The silence that follows feels different. Settled. Like two people who’ve just agreed to terms they can both live with.