Page 117 of Fractured Loyalties
“No. I followed the body count. I followed the pattern. And it led me to the man who’s got his hands all over you now.”
My spine locks.
“Elias has enemies,” Caleb continues. “But some of them weren’t his. Not until you. You ever ask yourself why they’re circling now?”
I swallow hard. “What are you talking about?”
“You were mine once. You don’t get to rewrite that just because he fits your scars better.”
My hand tightens around the blade. I don’t draw it. Not yet.
“You’re drawing heat, Mara,” he says, voice soft now. “And not all of it is from me.”
“You’re warning me?”
“I’m telling you. If something happens to you, he won’t survive it. And you? You’ve always been the detonator, not the fuse.”
Before I can respond, a shadow separates from the alley to my left.
A woman steps out. Tall. Sharp-featured. Cool brown skin, dark braid coiled down her back. Dressed in black like the dusk built her. A gun holstered at her side, but her hands are empty.
“Caleb Rusk,” she says. Calm. Crisp.
He turns, and for the first time, he looks unsure.
The woman’s voice is measured steel. “You’ve had your five minutes. That’s generous. Now step the fuck back.”
“Who the hell are you?” Caleb asks.
She doesn’t blink. “I’m Lydia.”
His jaw works. “Elias sent you?”
“No.” Her tone sharpens. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
I glance at her. “Then why are you?”
Her gaze never leaves Caleb. “Because your ghost keeps stepping where he shouldn’t.” She walks toward him slowly. “You show your face again within two blocks of this woman, and I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you do with it.”
Caleb doesn’t speak. Doesn’t move.
Lydia stops just in front of him. They’re nearly eye to eye.
“Walk away,” she says.
And he does.
No threats. No glances back.
Just vanishes into the alley the same way he came.
I don’t breathe until he’s gone.
Lydia turns to me finally. “You all right?”
I nod. “Thanks.”
She shrugs. “You handled him. I just closed the door.”
