Aeris
I didn't go back to bed after the conversation with Ronan.
Not right away.
My hands were still trembling when I put the file back where I found it, my name echoing in my head like it didn't belong to me anymore.
A. Vale.Just three letters stamped on a folder full of secrets.
Apparently, that's what I was—A girl in a file.A mission.A debt to be paid.
But when I looked at Ronan's face… it didn't feel like just that anymore.
And I didn't know what scared me more: the thought that he might be lying, or the terrifying possibility that he wasn't.
By the time I returned to the guest room, the lights were low. The fireplace still glowed softly. My body was starting to ache again—deep, sharp pangs of exhaustion crawling under my skin.
I didn't expect them to be there.
But all three were.
Silas was curled sideways in the armchair, hood up, earbuds in but one eye cracked open like he never truly slept.
Kade sat on the floor, back against the far wall, head tilted back, jaw clenched like always.
Ronan leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, unreadable—except now I knew what lived under that stillness. Control. A cage built from guilt.
They all looked up when I stepped inside.
No one said anything.
Which, somehow, made it easier.
"I'm not going to run," I muttered as I passed them. "You don't have to stand guard like I'm going to bolt through the window."
Silas gave a tired half-smile. "Technically, it's Kade's shift."
"I don't need shifts," Kade said flatly. "I'm staying."
I paused. Blinked at him.
"You're… sleeping on the floor?"
"I wasn't asleep."
That made me frown. "You've been sitting here all night?"
He didn't answer.
Which was the answer.
I sat carefully on the bed. The IV was still in my arm, and my body was too worn out to fight it anymore. I laid back slowly, breathing through the discomfort. They didn't move.
Didn't hover.
Didn't smother.
Just… stayed.
And it was the first time I realized how quiet the house really was. No distant yelling. No locks turning. No footsteps I had to memorize by sound.
Just silence.
Safe, unfamiliar silence.
"Why are you all still here?" I asked into the quiet.
Ronan was the one who answered. "Because leaving you alone now would feel like finishing what we started."
I turned my head to look at him. "And what exactly did you start?"
He held my gaze. "Keeping you alive."
I didn't have the strength to argue.
Didn't want to admit that maybe… just maybe… I believed him.
Silas sat up straighter in his chair. "I brought something."
He reached for a small paper bag on the nightstand and pulled out a candy bar.
Chocolate. The real kind.
He tossed it to me gently. "You used to eat those in the library bathroom during lunch. Thought we didn't notice."
My face went hot. "I wasn't hiding."
"You were," he said softly. "And it killed me not to do anything. So yeah. That's a late apology. In sugar form."
I stared at it. Then, wordlessly, placed it beside me on the pillow.
"Thanks," I muttered.
He smiled — not smug, not mocking. Just soft.
"You're welcome, Deadg—" He stopped himself. "Sorry. Force of habit."
"You do that again," I warned, voice dry, "and I'll stab you with the IV stand."
Silas raised his hands. "Understood."
Kade snorted under his breath.
Ronan almost smiled.
Almost.
It wasn't forgiveness.
But it was something.
A crack in the wall.
And cracks, I knew, were how the light got in.