Horus IV waits there, as it always does, but tonight Sweet Tooth stands in front of it. A bakery window boarded against rain. Cinnamon beneath electrical smoke. Evie crying against my chest. Her hand wrapped around my fingers. Her impossible, infuriating mercy.
I promised not to kill them.
I did not promise to keep her untouched by consequence.
That is the part shame finds and digs into.
Footsteps approach after some stretch of time I do not measure. Not an officer’s armored stride. Lighter. Faster. Familiar in a way that should be impossible after so few days.
My eyes open before she reaches the corridor.
Evie appears beyond the force barrier in a rain-damp coat, hair coming loose around her face, eyes bright with worry and anger and something I do not deserve. Her bruises have faded but not vanished. She grips the strap of her bag with one hand and the precinct paperwork with the other.
Behind her, a desk officer says, “Ma’am, you can’t approach the barrier.”
She stops too close anyway.
Of course she does.
For a moment, neither of us speaks.
The cell light hums. Rainwater drips from her coat onto the polished precinct floor. My shame becomes heavier than the cuffs.
Finally she exhales, shaky and furious. “You absolute idiot.”
Relief hits so hard I almost smile.
Almost.
“I did not kill anyone,” I say.
Her mouth opens, then closes. Her eyes shine, but not with tears. Not yet. “That is not the first thing you’re supposed to say when someone bails your enormous ass out of jail.”
“I have not been released.”
“I’m working on it.”
“You should not have come.”
She steps closer despite the officer’s warning sound behind her. “You called me.”
“I gave your name.”
“That’s called calling me, Kauss.”
“I should not have.”
“No, probably not.” Her voice shakes now, but she steadies it with visible effort. “But you did, and I came, so we can argue about your terrible life choices after I get you out.”
My chest tightens. “The bakery needs repairs.”
“I know.”
“Your credits?—”
“Do not start with me about credits while you are sitting in a police cell after apparently turning an abandoned zoo into a gang rehabilitation program.”
“That description is inaccurate.”
