I should say something.
Correct it.
Clarify.
Instead I stayed kneeling beside Isabel while my pulse absolutely lost its mind.
Coward.
Beside me, Isabel looked between Hersh and me with wide exhausted eyes.
Then quietly whispered:
“You looked scared when they came.”
I swallowed hard.
“Yeah.”
“You still stood in front of me.”
Oh God.
The tears came fast behind my eyes again.
Because she sounded confused by that.
Like nobody had ever chosen her before.
I knew exactly how that felt.
“You don’t leave people alone with monsters,” I whispered softly.
The room went quiet after that.
Heavy silence.
The kind that settled deep.
Ava watched me differently now.
Not just as a witness.
As somebody who understood.
Tate finally stepped farther inside the tavern and removed his soaked sheriff hat.
“We’ve got deputies checking roads out of town,” he said. “But if there’s a leak inside law enforcement, we keep this circle small.”
Wolf nodded once.
“Agreed.”
Trigger leaned against the bar with his arms folded.
“So what’s the play?”
Ava exhaled slowly.
