She pushed herself upright despite the shake in her legs, planting her feet like stubbornness alone could keep her standing. Her arms locked across her chest, chin lifted in challenge while her eyes burned straight through me.
“I found a way to make this work,” she snapped. “A way that gives you the advantage if you actually use every tool you have.”
Her jaw tightened.
“It would be stupid not to.”
That was the worst part. She wasn’t wrong.
The truth of it twisted deeper and deeper under my ribs like a blade being worked around slowly, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of putting her back in danger.
She’d already died once. Already bled for this.
“Calix,” I called sharply, dragging my gaze away from her. “Tell her we’ll handle it ourselves.” My voice hardened. “That’s our job.”
Calix didn’t answer immediately.
He stayed where he was, leaning against the chair, studying both of us in silence. That lack of answer made something ugly crawl up my spine.
What the fuck was there to think about? Tell her no. Tell her she’d done enough.
“And what’s your alternative?” Olivia fired back before he could speak. “You walk into a trap and hope he misses?”
She took a step forward.
“Hope you dodge the first bullet before the second one hits you?”
Her eyes flashed toward me.
“Don’t pretend this isn’t the better option.” She crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “Use me.” The words landed heavy. “Make sure you get him no matter what.”
Calix’s fingers curled hard against the edge of the desk.
His stare stayed fixed on her like he was trying to see every possible outcome all at once. Finally, he exhaled slowly.
“We’d have time to do some underground running and testing.” My stomach dropped as he talked to her. “I need to know you can get out if things go bad.”
My mouth actually fell open. Across the room, Olivia’s lips instantly curled upward. Not smug, but there was an undeniable sense of victory there.
“I can do that.” Calix still wouldn’t look at me, and I knew exactly why. Because he understood something she didn’t yet. Plans failed. They always failed eventually.
And when they did, someone paid for it.
My chest tightened painfully as I stared at the two of them. My Flame. My brother.
Her smile was wide as she faced me. Looking me dead in my eyes, I saw the flicker of hesitation before she shook it off and stepped toward me.
“I'll be careful, but, Rack, I need to do this. I need to be of some help. To get him back for… everything.”
I bit back my words, knowing they would just anger her further. Instead of speaking, my hands went behind her head, cupping it as I pressed a bruising kiss on her forehead before letting her go and storming out of the office.
What was I going to do? It was two versus one.
Marching toward the elevator, all I could think was that this just made my job more important than ever. If everything was set up correctly, then there was nothing to worry about.
And that, I could do.
20
