Page 91 of Fractured Allegiance
There’s an intensity in her gaze, yet it’s not unkind.
“No,” I say. “I don’t.”
“Then why me?”
I don’t answer.
Because I’m not sure if it’s about her.
Or the way she makes me hate every leash I ever learned to wear.
But I say something close to the truth.
“Because if they’re watching you... I want to be the one who knows it first.”
She sets her glass down.
Stands.
Walks to the console.
Her fingers hover above the keyboard where mine just were.
Then she turns as I get up.
We’re inches apart again, just like in the hallway back at the club.
But this time, she’s the one who moves first.
She opens the door for me.
Not like she’s kicking me out.
But like she’s allowing me to leave.
And that difference is everything.
The door closes behind me without a sound.
Chapter 11 – Lydia – Threadbare
I wake unrested. The sun’s already pushing through the cracks in the curtains, bright and too precise, making the dust in the air look like it's got nowhere to hide.
I sit up too fast and quickly regret it. My spine cracks. My mouth tastes like copper and bourbon and something I didn’t mean to swallow. Fear, maybe.
The loft is too quiet.
I scan the walls before I even realize what I’m doing.
The monitor above the bookshelf hums softly, it’s not flickering this morning.
No frame stutters, no skipped angles, no warning, and that terrifies me more than when it was glitching.
Because now I think it’s hiding better.
I slide off the bed and pad toward the console.
The system says nothing, no sign of intrusion, no alert, nothing at all.
