Page 145 of Silent Shadows

Maya disappears first. Then Jax, still complaining, follows. Taylor and Owen remain at the map table, arguing quietly over access routes with the intense hostility of two people who are too similar for their own good. At one point, Taylor gets fed up and heads back toward the kitchen for candy.

Daisy catches my eye from across the Machine. Just once. Then she slips outside the front door.

I wait thirty seconds.

Because I am strategic.

Without looking up from the map, Owen says, “You realize you’re doomed, right?”

I turn. “Excuse me?”

Owen looks up. “Just making an observation.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure.”

“I’m going to check the exterior batteries,” I say.

Owen’s mouth curves. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

I point at him. “Do not start.”

“I started years ago,” he winks at me.

Which is true. Owen's been annoying me like it’s his job since the ‘90s.

I remember once when I was six. He was ten. Mom had just made grilled cheese and informed him that, as the oldest, it was his sacred duty to take care of me. He interpreted that with all the grace of a golden retriever handed military authority. Thirty years later, he still treats my life like it's his favorite sitcom.

I swear he came out of the womb forty-five years old. He taught me to drive. Taught me to throw a punch. Taught me how to shave. Taught me how to survive losing our parents.

And apparently, somewhere along the line, he decided his newest responsibility was commenting on my love life. Not that I’m in love or anything.

“Seriously,” he says, softening. “She's got it bad, too, you know.”

I scoff. “She does not.”

“Miles.”

“No.”

“Miles.”

I bury my face in my hands. “Oh my God.”

“Honestly, you two are exhausting.”

“Please stop talking.”

“Can't. Mom would've loved this.”

I pause, because it’s like she's right there for a second. Mom, smiling into her tea. Dad pretending not to grin.

Owen catches it. He always does.

His voice gentles. “Go ‘check your batteries’, little brother.”

A smile pulls at my mouth. “Shut up.”