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“I no longer believe returning you is safe.”

She looked away immediately.

I knew what I had done wrong before she spoke.

“For who?”

I frowned. “What?”

“You said returning me isn’t safe.” She faced me again. “For who?”

“For you.”

Her expression cooled. “And there it is.”

I understood. Safety. Again. I had framed the decision as mine.

“You are correct.”

That surprised her. It surprised me too.

I adjusted. “I will not return you without your agreement.”

She stared at me.

The words felt unfamiliar. Not difficult. Just structured differently from the way I normally operated.

Her agreement had never been relevant to the mission. Now it was.

“That sounds dangerously close to giving me a choice.”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“No.”

Her mouth fell open.

I realized what I had said.

Talia laughed.

Not loudly. But genuinely. The sound filled the transport.

Something beneath my skin shifted. A brief pulse of silver-white current moved along my wrist. I closed my hand around it.

Talia did not notice.

Good.

I looked toward the horizon.

The next location was less secure than the mountain site. More populated. That had advantages. It also meant I could not remain invisible indefinitely.

Soon, I would need information from outside the systems currently available to me.

Not yet.