Not pushing.
Not controlling.
Just there.
Grounding me before I completely shatter.
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.
The softness in his voice almost destroys me more than Avery’s death did.
Because Wu never sounded like that.
Not once.
Not ever.
Wu watches Avery’s body without emotion.
No grief.
No regret.
Nothing.
Like she was already gone long before tonight.
And suddenly—
something inside me turns cold.
Not fear.
Clarity.
I rise slowly to my feet.
Blood drips from my fingertips onto the tunnel floor.
Wu studies me carefully.
“Hannah.”
I look directly at him.
And for the first time since meeting him tonight—
I’m not afraid.
“You killed her.”
Wu’s expression remains calm.
“Subject Seven became operationally unstable after extraction failure.”
Not Avery.
Subject Seven.
