Page 70 of Damian
Oliver gave a low chuckle. “Always the optimist.”
Gage crossed his arms. “What’s the play? Kick the doors in? Go quiet?”
Cyclone glanced at me, then back at the map. “If we hit it wrong, he vanishes. And next time, we won’t get another shot. He’ll bury his tracks so deep we’ll never see him again.”
All eyes shifted to me.
I dragged in a breath, the weight of Morgan’s whisperedyou came backstill echoing in my chest. I couldn’t let Luthor slip through. Not after what we saw in that warehouse. Notafter those girls. Not with Morgan and Ruby still in his sights, even if he didn’t know it yet.
“We hit hard,” I said finally. “No warnings. No negotiations. We breach, cut the power, and take him alive if possible. Dead if not. Either way, this ends.”
Silence settled for a beat, heavy but sure. Then Oliver’s smirk widened, Gage cracked his knuckles, and Cyclone muttered something about rewriting firewalls like a rockstar.
The plan was forming. The mission was set.
And in the back of my mind, one thought pulsed steady as a heartbeat:
I’ll end this, Morgan. So when I come back, it’s over.
94
Morgan
The clock on the wall ticked too loud.
I sat at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee growing cold between my hands, the second hand dragging circles that felt like they were mocking me. Damian had only been gone a few hours, but it already felt like days.
Ruby shuffled in from the living room, her blanket draped around her shoulders, hair sticking up in every direction. She climbed onto the chair across from me and tucked her legs up. For a long moment, she just stared.
“What?” I asked, my voice soft. I would never speak harshly to my sister after losing her for those weeks. I was so frightened.
Her eyes narrowed like she was weighing whether I could handle the truth. “You love him.”
I froze, the words hitting like a bullet.
Ruby shrugged, pulling the blanket tighter. “You don’t have to say it. I can see it.”
Heat rose in my face, and I took a long sip of coffee I didn’t even want. “I told you before I loved him. He’s…complicated.”
“He’s dangerous,” Ruby said flatly. Then her voice cracked. “And what if he doesn’t come back this time?”
The fear in her tone cut deeper than anything else could. I reached across the table, pried her hand from the blanket, and squeezed it. “He will always come back.”
Her chin trembled, but she nodded. “But will it always be like this?”
The truth was, Ruby wasn’t wrong. Loving Damian wasn’t safe. It was reckless, messy, terrifying. But it was also inevitable. Every time he walked out that door, he carried pieces of me with him. And every time he came back, he stitched something inside me tighter than before.
I stared at the door now, imagining his silhouette filling the frame, his voice low and rough with exhaustion. I wanted to believe he’d walk back through, just like always. “No, he’s just trying to catch Luthor,” I whispered.
But a whisper deep inside reminded me: one day, he might not.
I shoved the thought down, hard.
“We’ll keep each other busy,” I told Ruby, forcing a smile. “Movies, games, whatever it takes. We’re not going to sit here and count seconds. Deal?”
Her lips twitched into the smallest of smiles. “Deal.”
But when she curled back onto the couch, I stayed at the table, coffee cold, heart pounding, praying to God that Damian was out there turning every ounce of his fury toward ending this once and for all.
