Seb gives me a quiet, weighted smile. The kind that acknowledges trauma without inviting you to talk about it. I appreciate it more than I can say. But I still can’t bring myself to smile back.
Instead, I look at Kabir with the flattest expression I can manage. “You haven’t been around civilians in a while, have you?”
His grin falters. He opens his mouth to respond, stops, frowns. “Uh… no. Actually, yeah. Been about three years?” He glances at Sebastian for confirmation. “Yeah, three.”
I exhale a breath that almost turns into a laugh. Tired and disbelieving. Levi’s arms tighten instinctively around me, like he’s trying to keep something—me or himself—from unraveling.
Seb just shakes his head, lips twitching faintly. He doesn’t speak, but the message is clear:you’ve got my support. No matter what.
I glance up at Levi and regret it instantly.
His face is blank. Too blank. The kind of vacancy that looks like it was carved out of him. His family was just dragged out in cuffs. One still screaming. One broken. The third unrepentant and bloodied.
I don’t know what to say. I don’t think words would even touch the edge of what he must be feeling.
“We’ll…” I start, my voice catching, “we’ll head out.”
I turn to Sebastian. “Thank you, Seb. I’ll call you soon with—”
—I don’t freaking know.
He lifts a hand gently and places it on my shoulder. Stopping me before I can fumble through any attempt at closure. There is no closure. Not yet.
I nod, quietly, and Kabir gives us a quick, tight smile. “Don’t worry. We’ve got the clean-up handled.”
We start walking.
“You’re okay?” Levi murmurs once we’re a few steps away, his voice hoarse. But it doesn’t sound like a question. It sounds like he’s trying to reassure himself, almost pleadingly.
“We’re okay,” I answer, softly. More for him than for me. I nudge him toward the elevator.
But my chest is a coil of dread. The story about his “mistress” is still out there unanswered. This new scandal, this explosion of legacy and power and betrayal—it will swallow the news cycle soon.
And Levi… Levi knew it would happen. Hechoseto let it happen.
But that doesn’t mean he’s ready for the price.
As we step into the elevator, his fingers tighten around mine, and all I feel from him is rage. A caged, restrained rage.
And I know when it cracks open, we’ll burn.
TWENTY-TWO
Levi
I’m not mourning. I’m not.
Am I?
There’s not much rage left in me after the twisted satisfaction of punching the shit out of my own uncle. Gareth deserved it. I know that.
And the fact that I’ve only ever been a level-headed person prior to today should shock the hell out of me. But it doesn’t.
All I could see—could feel—was the rigid frame of Cece in my arms. That slight flinch when Gareth threw his vitriol at her. My vision had hazed red at the edges in a blink. The only thing in the way of his head slamming into the wall behind him was the few short steps.
I didn’t hesitate. Not once.
But now, the rage is draining out of me in slow, trembling pulses. Leaving me with a kind of dejectionI don’t like. I think I’m confusing it with mourning the loss of my parents—even though they’re still alive.
