"You didn't tell me," she said finally.
"Tell you what?"
"That you knew them."
Cassian didn't respond at first. The weight in the air was heavy too thick to ignore now. She turned her head to face him. His jaw was tight, his eyes somewhere far away.
"You recognized the symbol on those trucks," Selene continued, her voice low. "You hesitated before you pulled the trigger."
He sighed, closed his eyes, and ran a hand down his face.
"I used to work with them."
Selene's breath hitched.
"Back when everything first fell apart. When the cities burned and the government was eating itself alive. I didn't know what they were doing at first it was just logistics. Weapons. Supply runs. Security."
"And then?"
"I found out what they were smuggling. People. Kids. Women. Men. Cattle to them. I tried to walk away." He let out a bitter laugh. "But you don't walk away from mercs like that. Not without blood."
Selene sat up, dragging the sheet over her bare chest. "So what happened?"
"I burned everything down. Their base. Their records. Half their men."
"You killed them."
"I tried. But not all of them. Some of them escaped."
"And now they're back."
He nodded. "And they want revenge. On me. On anyone I care about."
The words sank like knives.
Selene stared at him.
"And you were just gonna let me walk into that without telling me the truth?"
Cassian sat up, too. His face was stripped bare nothing left to hide behind.
"I thought I could protect you."
"I don't need protection. I need the truth."
His eyes flashed. "The truth is, I've watched too many people I care about die, Selene. And I'm not ready to watch you become one of them."
She stood, pacing now, wrapping the sheet tighter around her body like armor. "You think hiding things will save me? No, Cassian. It'll get me killed."
He stood too, faster, stepping in front of her. "Then what do you want from me, Selene? A confession? That I'm not the hero you think I am?"
"I never thought you were a hero."
"Good. Because I'm not."
Silence stretched between them like a loaded gun.
Then footsteps outside.
Fast. Panicked.
A knock rattled the door.
Cassian grabbed his pants and gun in one motion. "What?"
It was Reese one of their scouts, breathless, bloodied.
"They're coming," she said.
Selene froze. "Who?"
Reese shook her head. "The convoy. Or what's left of it. They found the boy's trail. They know he's here. And they're not coming to negotiate."
Cassian's face hardened. He turned to Selene.
"It's time to run."
Outside, the compound was chaos.
The boy, Luca, clung to Selene's hand. His face was pale but determined. Around them, soldiers loaded weapons, secured gates, barked orders into cracked radios.
Cassian stalked across the yard, issuing commands with terrifying clarity. "Set trip mines along the east wall. Re-route the solar batteries to the gate defenses. And get the fucking drone up. I want eyes on them now."
Selene approached him. "What's the plan?"
"Evacuate the non-combatants. Hold the line until they're safe. After that—"
"What?"
"We fight."
Her heart pounded.
"You think we can win?"
Cassian looked at her, and for the first time since she met him, she saw something close to fear.
"No. But I'm not letting them take anyone else."
Selene reached into her pocket. Pulled out her knife.
"You won't have to."
That night, the walls of the compound lit up with gunfire.
The enemy came like ghosts. Black-clad. Silent. Trained.
But Selene was waiting.
She moved through the battlefield like a shadow, cutting them down before they could breathe. Cassian at her side covering her back without a word spoken. Like they were wired to the same pulse.
Luca was kept hidden, locked in the old supply cellars.
But the mercs weren't here for supplies.
They were here for vengeance.
And they brought a monster with them.
Not a beast.
A man.
Tall. Scarred. One eye. One name burned into the back of Selene's mind when she saw him:
Viktor Kael.
A ghost from Cassian's past.
He stepped over the bodies of his own men like they were dust.
Stopped at the edge of the firelight.
"I've come for what's mine," he said.
Cassian's voice cut through the dark. "Then you've come to die."