Page 158 of Dark Night of the Soul

“I appreciate quality when I see it.”

“Stop talking, Charming,” she said. Brief annoyance flickered over her face.

He laughed, then straightened. The smile remained, but the flirtation dropped away.

“Right. Focus. Mission. Got it.”

Ulrich sighed. “Are you two finished?”

“For now,” Ludwig said.

She returned her attention to the blueprints, but I caught the slight curve of her mouth.

She was enjoying this more than she’d admit.

I closed the bond—not to shut her out, but to steady myself.

Because once we moved, everything I was planning would be tested.

Chapter 43 | Anna

I was used to it being the two of us.

Now it was four—but for this, it was him and me.

The maintenance entrance was a steel door tucked between two loading bays, unmarked except for a keypad worn smooth by years of use. He keyed the code without looking, already listening, already counting.

The dynamic had shifted. And so had he.

Because the countdown had begun, and like it or not, we were stepping into a situation none of us could control.

Control, I’d learned a long time ago, was an illusion.

The door opened with a muted click, and we slipped inside.

“No unnecessary chances,” he said.

“Right,” I agreed.

“Anything feels off, you tell me.” Not a question.

I answered it like one, anyway. “Yes.”

He needed to hear it. And honestly, I needed to say it.

The back of his hand brushed mine, and for one brief second, I thought he’d take it, but he didn’t.

“We’re green,” Ulrich’s voice came through the comms.

The moment was gone.

Kincade stepped past me into the corridor.

The space beyond the door was dim and industrial. Concrete, exposed conduit, the faint hum of power running through the walls as the blueprints showed.

We moved fast and quiet. No hesitation. No wasted motion.

This was the part that was supposed to feel hard.