Page 286 of Operation: Defiance

Taking my voice is the cruelest thing they’ve done. With it, I could tell her⁠—

I reach for her face. The color of her eyes in the morning light. The gold flecks in the brown. They blur and I lose them completely. Where… Why can’t I find them? The way she looks at me…

The tea cup. How she trusted me to hold it when she didn’t have the strength.

“I need to see your hands.”

Her huff. Almost a laugh, but better. I reach for the sound of it. I can’t…it’s gone. She’s not there—in my head—not like before.

I’d memorized every detail. Every one. And now…

I can’t.

The room goes soft. The edges of the table gone. I don’t feel the cuffs anymore.

I could let go. I won’t have to watch Voss take her. Won’t lose…

Goodbye.

The word cuts through the static. Jay said… He…

Goodbye kiss.

She traded everything she had left for this. To touch me.

My left thumb drifts to my index finger. Raine’s tell. Raine’s movement.

Raine.

The door opens again. Two guards release the cuffs from the table. I let them bear my weight. I need whatever strength I have left—all of it—to kiss Raine.

Reaching for the last thing I said to her, I snag the edges and hold tight. The words are worn—like the note clutched in my hand—but still true.

“I’m choosing you too.”