Kairo didn't sleep that night.
He sat in his study long after the house had gone quiet, replaying every word, every look, every moment that had felt a bit off but easy to dismiss at the time. The ring had taught him one thing above all else when something felt wrong, ignoring it only made the hit harder when it came.
Just before dawn, he called Naya in.
She entered silently, already alert, as if she'd been waiting for this moment. Her face was calm, but her eyes carried the weight of someone who had been holding a secret too long.
"Sit," Kairo said.
She did.
"I owe you an apology," he began. "For calling it jealousy. For throwing your shade at your past. For refusing to let you do what you're trained to do."
Naya didn't interrupt.
"I didn't want to believe someone I trusted could be dangerous," he continued. "But trust without verification is how people like me end up controlled."
Her jaw tightened slightly. "And now?"
"Now," he said firmly, "I'm giving you full clearance."
Her eyes lifted sharply.
"I want you to dig," Kairo said. "Deep. Backgrounds, funding, connections, burner phones, shell companies. I don't care if she's been in my life for years .I want the truth."
"And if the truth hurts?" Naya asked quietly.
He exhaled. "Then I'll deal with the pain. Not the lie."
Something in her expression softened not relief, but resolve.
"I already started," she admitted. "Carefully. Off-grid."
"I figured," he said with a faint, tired smile. "You don't wait for permission when lives are at stake."
She hesitated. "Once I go all the way, there's no pretending anymore. If Maribel is what I think she is… the syndicate will know we're onto them."
Kairo leaned forward. "Then we stop pretending too."
Naya stood. "I'll need to stand on my own. No campaign oversight. No shared calendars. She can't see patterns."
"And Naya "
She paused at the door.
"I'm not asking you to choose between being my guard and being anything else," he said quietly. "I'm asking you to choose yourself. Do what you believe is right."
Her throat tightened. "I always have."
When she left, the house felt different not safer, but clearer.
In the shadows of the city, Naya activated contacts she hadn't used in years. Names buried under dead files. Favors owed in silence. Ghost routes and untraceable data trails.
Maribel Crossley had been careful.
But no one was invisible forever.
Back in his study, Kairo stared at the city skyline as the sun began to rise. For the first time since Lysandra's death, his doubt sharpened into purpose.
Whatever Maribel was hiding, they would uncover it.
And whatever storm followed, Kairo knew this much with certainty: He was done fighting blind.