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I could’ve have.

Four words.

That’s all it would’ve taken to begin.

It started with Theresa.

Or—

Before I was the Revenant.

Or simply⁠—

Sit down.

Anything.

Instead I’d given her silence.

Again.

I reached for the cellar door and pulled it closed. Wood settled into place with a quiet click. The sound went through me like a gunshot. I stared at it. A closed door. Of course it was. What else would it fucking be?

Footsteps sounded behind me. I didn’t turn. Rafe stopped in the doorway and for several seconds, neither of us spoke. His gaze moved past me. Toward the floor. Toward the seam I’d just closed. Then back to me.

“She found it.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

I stared at the floor. “There was nothing to find.”

Silence.

Then—

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

My gaze snapped toward him. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Start.”

Rafe stepped into the room. “Oh, I’m fucking starting.”

“She doesn’t need to know what’s in those files.”

He stopped. Something changed in his face. Not anger, just… disbelief.

“Did she ask what she needed?”

I frowned. “What?”

“Nyssa.” He pointed toward the hallway she’d disappeared into. “Did she ask you what she fucking needed to know?”

My jaw tightened.