“You are not currency.” She takes her eyes off the road long enough to lock eyes with me. “You are not an asset, Rafael. Not theirs. Not Aurora’s. Not anyone’s.”
“Twenty-four people—”
“Rafael.” Brenna’s voice cuts through. The whole van goes still. My wolf goes still. “Listen to me. Viktor Parlance will not trade you like livestock. If he heard their offer, it was because he needed to know what they were willing to give up and what leverage they thought they had. That is not the same as accepting.”
“But—”
“Those captives are Aurora’s responsibility. Not yours. Viktor has other ways to get them out. Ways that don’t involve putting you back on a research table.”
My breathing slows. My hands loosen on my thighs.
Brenna exhales. “But this is not simple. You’ve wounded a senior Syndicate researcher and caused upheaval through their entire facility. There will be consequences.”
“We’re not coming back,” Sable says. “Not yet.”
“Sable, are you sure you—?”
“Positive. I’m not facing another group of ‘experts’ telling me how Rafael needs to be treated. Viktor wanted to keep him restrained, locked up, and drugged until they knew how to control him. When that was what was setting him off in the first place.”
“You can hardly blame him for being cautious.”
“Yes, Brenna, I can. Not only did he refuse to listen to a word I said, he allowed that bitch into the same room as Rafael while he was strapped down and helpless. He has a lot to answer for.”
There’s silence for a beat.
“I’ll contact Viktor,” she says eventually. “Buy you time. But you need to stay off-grid. Ditch the vehicle as soon as you can. The Syndicate will be looking.”
“We need funds,” Sable says. “We have nothing.”
“Let me know where you are when you decide to make your next stop. I’ll wire what I can under your mother’s maiden name. Pick it up in the morning. After that, you’re on your own until I can work something out with Aurora.”
“Understood.”
“Sable.” Brenna’s voice drops. The alpha register softens into something more personal. “Are you sure about this? You’re giving up Ravenclaw. Your position. Everything.”
“Yes.”
“For him.”
“For us.”
Brenna is quiet. Then: “Don’t get caught. And don’t make me regret trusting your judgment.”
The line goes dead.
Sable sets the phone on the console.
“For us,” I repeat.
“Yes. Is that okay?” She looks at me.
“Yeah.” I reach for her hand again.
We drive in silence for a mile. Then she rolls down the window and throws the phone into the dark.
The mountains thin out. The road drops into a valley I don’t recognize. A town appears: a gas station, a general store with a closed sign, a cluster of houses with porch lights on.
Then a sign. Faded. Flickering. PINEVIEW LODGE — VACANCY.
