Shalom didn't wait for the door to fully open.
The moment the hinges creaked, she moved.
Pain ripped through her side as she rolled off the bed, but she welcomed it—it meant she was still alive. She grabbed the gun from under the mattress, her hands steady even as her breath wasn't.
"Two," Elena whispered sharply. "Maybe three."
"Then we don't miss," Shalom replied.
The lights above flickered again.
Footsteps.
Heavy boots.
Not Circle soldiers in full force—yet. This was a probe. A test. The Obsidian Circle never rushed in unless they were certain.
Shalom pressed her back against the wall, heart pounding. Her thoughts raced, but one name burned louder than the rest.
Kevin.
If they were here, it meant the Circle was tightening the net. And Kevin—promoted, watched, tested—was right at the center of it.
The door burst open.
Shalom fired.
The first man went down before he could raise his weapon. The second fired blindly, bullets ripping into the wall. Elena returned fire, dragging Shalom backward toward the escape tunnel hidden behind the storage racks.
"Move!" Elena shouted.
They ran.
The tunnel was narrow and dark, metal scraping against concrete as they pushed through. Shalom's vision blurred, sweat soaking her clothes, but she didn't slow.
Not when stopping meant capture.
Not when capture meant Kevin would die for it.
They burst out into the open sewer line, the stench sharp and overwhelming. Elena slammed the hatch shut behind them.
Silence followed.
Only their breathing remained.
"They'll track us," Shalom said between breaths.
Elena nodded grimly. "They already are."
Kevin felt it before he saw it.
Something was wrong.
The Circle's headquarters buzzed with quiet tension—analysts moving too fast, whispers stopping when he entered a room. His promotion hadn't brought freedom. It had brought a cage made of glass.
He stood in the command corridor when Victor Kane approached him again, calm as ever.
"You look distracted," Victor said.
"Adjustment period," Kevin replied.
Victor studied him for a moment. "You should be grateful. Many would kill for your position."
Kevin met his gaze. "Many already have."
Victor smiled thinly. "Good. That instinct will keep you alive."
Then, casually, "We lost a safehouse today."
Kevin's chest tightened—but his face didn't change.
"Unfortunate," he said.
"Yes," Victor agreed. "One operative escaped. We're narrowing possibilities."
He leaned closer, voice soft.
"Tell me, Kevin… do you believe ghosts can bleed?"
Kevin swallowed. "Everyone bleeds."
Victor's eyes gleamed. "Exactly."
Shalom changed clothes in an abandoned building hours later.
Her wound throbbed as Elena cleaned and rewrapped it, her movements quick and practiced.
"You can't keep running," Elena said finally.
Shalom looked up. "I know."
"They'll keep sending people," Elena continued. "And Kevin—whether he wants to or not—will be forced to choose."
Shalom's hands curled into fists. "He already chose me."
"And that makes him dangerous," Elena said sharply. "To them."
Shalom stood slowly, ignoring the pain. "Then I stop being his weakness."
Elena frowned. "What are you thinking?"
Shalom's eyes hardened.
"I go on the offensive."
Kevin returned home late that night.
The apartment still smelled like Shalom—faint traces of her soap, her perfume clinging stubbornly to the air. It made his chest ache.
He sat on the couch, staring at the floor.
He hadn't slept properly since the facility.
Since he pulled the trigger.
His phone buzzed.
Not Obsidian.
Not Elena.
An unknown number.
UNKNOWN: You should have killed her when you had the chance.
Kevin's blood went cold.
He typed back slowly.
KEVIN: You're wrong.
The reply came almost instantly.
UNKNOWN: She's closer than you think.
Kevin stood.
Every instinct screamed at once.
Someone knew.
Shalom watched the apartment from across the street.
She hadn't planned to come back so soon. But plans were luxuries she no longer had.
Kevin's lights were on.
He was home.
Alive.
That mattered more than anything else.
She pulled her hood lower, heart racing. Seeing him like this—from a distance, through shadows—felt wrong. Like she was already losing him.
Her phone vibrated.
Elena.
ELENA: You're near him, aren't you?
Shalom hesitated.
Then typed back.
SHALOM: Yes.
The pause before Elena replied felt endless.
ELENA: Then be careful. Someone else is watching too.
Shalom looked around slowly.
Windows.
Cars.
Reflections.
She didn't see anyone.
That didn't mean anything.
Kevin felt it—the presence.
He turned just as a shadow moved outside the window.
His hand went to his weapon.
"Shalom," he whispered.
The word barely left his mouth before the glass shattered.
She rolled through the window, fast and silent, landing hard but steady.
"Kevin," she breathed.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then she was in his arms.
He held her like she might disappear if he let go. Like she was real only because he could feel her breathing against his chest.
"You're alive," he said hoarsely.
"Barely," she replied.
He pulled back, hands framing her face. "You shouldn't be here."
"I know," she said. "But I couldn't stay away."
Sirens wailed faintly in the distance.
Kevin's instincts flared. "They followed you."
"Not directly," she said. "But they're close."
He nodded once. "Then we don't stay."
They moved quickly.
Kevin grabbed what he could—cash, weapons, burner phones. Shalom leaned against the wall, fighting the dizziness, watching him like she was memorizing his movements.
"You're different," she said softly.
"So are you," he replied.
They locked eyes.
Everything unspoken sat between them.
"I'm being watched," Kevin said. "Constantly."
"I know," Shalom said. "That's why I came."
He frowned. "To put me in more danger?"
"No," she said. "To stop being your secret."
Kevin stared at her. "What does that mean?"
"It means," she said slowly, "I won't hide while they squeeze you."
He stepped closer. "This isn't a game, Shalom."
She met his gaze without flinching. "It never was."
A loud knock hit the door.
Once.
Twice.
Kevin froze.
Shalom raised her weapon.
Victor Kane's voice came through the door, calm and familiar.
"Kevin," he called. "Open up."
Kevin closed his eyes.
This was it.