Page 45 of The Devil's Thorn
Ash glances at me in the rearview mirror. “No. We thinkyou’re gonna pretendyou’re fine until you’re not, and we’d rather be down the hall when that happens.”
I huff a quiet laugh, but it dies quick. “I’m not going to fall apart.”
“We know,” Kellan says. “That’s the problem.”
The words hit harder than they should. Because they’re right.
I’mnotgoing to fall apart.
But there’s a part of me thatwants to—just for a second. Just to let this weight fall somewhere safe before I pick it up again.
“You saw the way he looked at you?” Ash asks, voice low but sharp. “Like he already thinks you belong there.”
I glance out the window. “That’s the point.”
“Yeah,” Kellan mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “And it scares the hell out of me.”
A beat of silence. I don’t answer. Because it scares me, too. In a way that has nothing to do with the mission.
We turn down my street, the high-rise glowing like a crown above the rest of the skyline.
My building.
My home.
My war room.
Ash pulls into the private garage entrance beneath it, entering the code without needing to look, and the gates slide open like always—silent, smooth, practiced.
We pull into my reserved space. The car stops. The engine hum fades.
And still—none of us move.
Because walking in means tonight is over.
And none of us are ready to let it go just yet.
CHAPTER 4
ISABELLA
Thesound of fists hitting padded gloves echoes through the room like gunfire in a cathedral—clean, sharp, brutal.
Kellan grunts as he absorbs the impact, his feet braced, hands steady in front of him. “Again.”
I breathe through my nose and launch forward, two jabs, one hook, followed by a low, hard kick toward his thigh. He shifts at the last second, just enough to block it.
“Better,” he mutters, voice flat. “You’re loosening up.”
I roll my neck, wiping sweat from my temple with the back of my glove. “I’m not tight.”
He arches a brow. “Your shoulders are locked up like you’re waiting to be shot.”
I don’t respond. Because he’s not wrong.
But it has nothing to do with the fight.
And everything to do withhim.
