Page 88 of Requiem
Micah leans back in his chair, studying me.
But before he can say anything, Adela shifts her laptop, drawing attention back to the reason we’re all sitting here in the first place. “We made more progress,” she says. “We canseeeverything now. Every log tied to Alexei. Including photos and videos.” She glances at me briefly before looking back at the screen. “But we still can’ttouchany of it. Not without triggering the system.”
Nico exhales through his nose, arms crossed as he leans against the wall. “It’s like standing in front of a vault with the door wide open, but the second you step inside, it collapses on you.”
Kieran nods, his expression darker. “This seems to be a hard one for you.”
Nico snorts. “No fucking kidding, guy. Sucks ass. It’s taking us forever, man.” He gestures to myself, Emma, Micah, and Heather. “And they have no idea what any of this is.”
Adela rolls her eyes.
But Alexei’s voice is already echoing in my head. His commands. His gross fucking laugh.
Erik. Aiden.
Henrik.
My chest tightens immediately, nausea surging. I jolt forward, catching myself on the table and forcing the vomit down. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.
“What’s wrong?” Emma asks softly, laying a hand on my arm. But I instinctively wrench away.
Blonde hair. Blue eyes. The clink of a belt. Television laughter bleeding through a wall. Hands, lips, bodyweight on top of me.
My hands tense slightly against each other, my jaw locking as the memory tries to take shape. But it doesn’t get that far. I catch it, barely, and shove it back into the dark corners of my mind. I feel it happening in real time, like watching a storm roll in from a distance instead of being trappedinsideit. My breath steadies as I force it back, staying here, in this room,with these people.
“I’m okay,” I say quietly, more to confirm it to myself than anything else.
Emma frowns, and I can tell she wants to touch me. To comfort me. But she doesn’t.
Rafe’s gaze sharpens. He saw my entire shift. He just nods once, acknowledging it without making it bigger than it needs to be. “Let’s focus,” he says smoothly, redirecting the room. “We have four days.”
Adela leans forward, her fingers tapping lightly against the keyboard. “We don’t need to break the system completely,” she says. “Not yet. We can map the triggers, and understand the logic behind them. If we do that, we might be able to control when and how it reacts.”
“Or redirect it,” Nico adds, his tone thoughtful now. “Make it fire onourterms instead of his.”
Kieran glances between them. “That’s risky as a motherfucker.”
“So is doing nothing,” Adela shoots back.
I sit back, blinking through the fucking trauma that’s trying to rip into my head. My mind feels like a maze. “I can help,” I say, the words coming out steady. “He expects me to sacrifice myself. Like I did before when I…” I trail off, avoiding anyone’s gaze. “When I left the States.”
Rafe’s lips curve faintly. “That’spreciselywhat he thinks you’ll do.”
I finally look up. “So how about I give it to him?”
Chapter twenty-five
EMMA EASTON
When I open my eyes, morning light is already spilling through the curtains. For a moment, I don’t move. I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, letting last night replay itself since I woke up alone.
He told me he was still sleeping in the basement because he didn’t want to take any chances with me. He doesn’t trust himself yet. And when I walked him back to his room, he chose to kiss me again. I let him set the pace with everything. The kiss was definitely hesitant at first, ensuring that he was in control. And when I kissed him back, he eased.
His eyes lifted to mine. “Lock the door,” he said. Then, quieter, “Just in case.”
I sit up and push the blanket off my legs, the memory lingering in my mind. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand. Downstairs, I can already hear the house waking up. There are voices and movement, likely Adela, Nico, and Rafe. Kieran seems to enjoy his beauty sleep, while the other three are more like intense, type-A humans.
