The night felt wrong from the start, thicker than it should've been, like the river was breathing damp rot right into their lungs. City lights didn't reach this far; everything was just black shapes and the low buzz of distant traffic that never quite stopped. Lara's palm was slick against Ethan's, fingers locked so tight her knuckles ached, but she wasn't letting go. Not tonight.
"You sure we have to do this?" she whispered, voice cracking on the last word. She hated how small she sounded.
Ethan didn't answer right away. His jaw worked like he was chewing on the question. "She'll come for you if we don't show. I've seen what she does when people ghost her." He squeezed her hand once, quick, then let it drop like it burned him. "I can't… I won't let that happen."
They crept along the cracked concrete, dodging puddles that smelled like oil and dead fish. Every few steps Lara flinched at nothing—a loose chain clanking against a fence, a crow that sounded pissed off about something. Her sneakers squeaked once on wet gravel and she froze, convinced Selene could hear it from a mile away.
"This place is fucking awful," she muttered under her breath.
Ethan gave a half-laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah. Used to come here to think when things got bad. Guess they're bad again."
Then they saw her.
Selene leaned against the rusted warehouse door like she owned the whole riverfront, coat dripping, dark hair stuck to her cheeks in wet strings. The security light above her flickered, throwing her face into weird angles. She didn't move when they stepped into the open—just watched, that same half-smile curling like she'd already won.
"You're late," she said, voice carrying too easily over the water. Almost playful. "Thought maybe you'd chickened out."
Ethan put himself half in front of Lara without thinking. "This stops tonight, Selene. No more notes, no more shadows. You walk away. We walk away. Done."
Selene tilted her head, studying him like he was a puzzle she'd already solved. "You still think you get to decide that?" Her eyes slid to Lara. "And you brought company. Cute. Protective."
Lara's stomach lurched. She stepped up beside Ethan even though her legs felt like jelly. "I'm not some side character you can threaten. Whatever you two had, it's over. He's with me now."
Selene laughed—short, sharp, like glass breaking. "Over? Sweetheart, nothing's over until I say it is." She reached inside her coat slow, deliberate.
Ethan went rigid. "Don't."
Too late. The knife came out, slim and dull silver under the flickering light. Lara sucked in a breath so hard it hurt. Ethan lunged, grabbing for Selene's wrist. They collided—grunts, scuffle of boots, a wet smack when the blade nicked his forearm. Blood welled fast, dark against his sleeve.
"Stop it!" Lara yelled, voice raw. She didn't even know who she was yelling at.
Selene twisted free, breathing hard, knife still in hand. She wiped a smear of Ethan's blood off the blade with her thumb, almost absentminded. "Or what, Lara? You gonna cry me to death?"
Ethan pressed his hand over the cut, blood seeping between fingers. His face was pale, but his voice stayed low. "You do this and you lose any chance of getting what you want. From either of us."
For a second Selene's eyes flickered—something like real hurt, maybe, or just anger. Hard to tell. Then the mask snapped back. She stepped backward into the dark. "We'll finish this later. When you're not playing hero."
She melted into the shadows like she'd never been there. Just gone.
Lara grabbed Ethan's good arm, pulling him toward her. "Jesus—let me see." The cut wasn't deep, but it was ugly, ragged. She pressed her sleeve against it without thinking. "You idiot. You could've been—"
"I'm okay," he muttered, though he winced when she pushed harder. "Just a scratch. I've had worse."
She looked up at him, eyes stinging. "You didn't have to do that. Jump in like that."
"Yeah I did." He touched her cheek with his clean hand, thumb rough. "Couldn't not."
They stood there a minute, breathing together, the river slapping against pilings somewhere behind them. No grand declarations. No promises carved in stone. Just the two of them, bleeding a little, scared a lot, and still here.
Somewhere in the dark, Selene was probably still watching. But right now, that didn't matter as much.
They started walking back the way they came, slower this time, arms around each other like they might fall over if they let go.