The elevator doors slid open onto the administrative floor. Empty hallway. Just the two of us.
"If Sinn sent that psycho to clean house at the mansion," Mercury said as we walked, her voice low and tight, "that was my last mission."
"Yeah." That was all I gave her.
We were built different. She could walk away. I couldn't. The government was still giving me cover while I worked toward the only thing that mattered, and I couldn't quit that any more than I could quit the countdown ticking behind my eyes.
She stopped. Turned fully toward me. I stopped with her. Sinn's office sat a few steps ahead, door shut.
"This is getting messy, Bram." The usual noise had dropped completely out of her voice. Her shoulders were rigid. "Today's not the first time this government showed it doesn't give a shit whether we live. The Fallen City was a suicide run. You were right to ask how I survived. I hated the question, but you were right. Nobody was meant to come back from that. Nobody."
