Page 114 of Make Them Beg

Phone.

Wallet.

Spare burner.

Knife.

Jacket.

I leave the bat.

I scribble a note on the back of a receipt and keep it short.

Not running from you.

Running for you.

I’ll be back.

—K

It’s not enough. However, it’s all I can manage without waking her and letting her talk me out of my worst instincts.

I slide the note under the coffee mug she used earlier. Then I head for the door. The keypad blinks soft blue. The city hum is muted beyond the glass.

I hesitate with my hand on the lock.

Because Ididpromise.

Together.

Because shewillbe furious.

Because the first rule of loving a chaos girl is that she doesn’t let you martyr yourself without consequences.

But I can’t let her be the collateral for my morals.

Not tonight.

I step out into the hallway.

Lock the door behind me.

And walk into Halo City’s night like a man about to start a war?—

with no intention of letting the woman I love be the battlefield.

TWENTY

STAY PUT

LARK

For three glorious seconds after I wake up, I forget we’re on the run.

I forget the bounty. The broken cabin. The ugly motel. The new safehouse with a name that sounds like a superhero’s name.

I’m warm. Safe. Tucked into a blanket that smells clean and expensive. The morning light in Aegis is soft, filtered through city haze and tall windows, turning the condo into something almost… normal.