“Yeah,” he replies.
“Just—” I exhale, shaking my head slightly. “Like it didn’t matter.”
“It didn’t to him.”
“It mattered,” I snap. “Dadams wasn’t clean, but he wasn’t?—”
“I know,” Hrask cuts in, steady.
I swallow hard.
“I had him,” I say. “I had everything lined up, and then he just?—”
“You got what you needed.”
“At what cost?”
He finally looks up.
“At the cost it takes.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“No,” he agrees. “It’s not. But it’s real.”
The words land heavy.
I look away, my gaze dropping to the uneven shadows on the floor, tracking the flicker just to have something to focus on.
“This is bigger than we thought,” I say quietly.
“Yeah.”
“They’re not just covering it up,” I continue. “They’re controlling it.”
“I know.”
“And you still want to take this off-world.”
“That’s the only way it survives.”
I look back at him, really look this time.
“You didn’t hesitate this time,” I say.
“No.”
“Why?”
He holds my gaze.
“Because I’m not making that mistake again.”
Something tightens in my chest at that.
“You already did,” I mutter.
“Yeah,” he says. “And I’m fixing it.”
