Page 38 of Charged By the Razorbacks

“She understands the system because she built it,” the voice continued. “She sees the instability because she knows where it should not exist.” A beat. “She is not a threat.”

That stilled the room.

“She is an inevitability.”

The distinction mattered.

“Then we remove her,” one voice said.

“No.” The word cut through the room like a blade.

“We do not remove her,” the final voice said. “We bring her back.”

“And if she resists?”

The figure leaned back slightly, their form distorting again as the system adjusted around them.

“Everything resists,” they said. “Until it is made to understand its purpose.”

The display shifted one last time. E.S.E. headquarters.

Thermal signatures. Movement patterns. Layered defenses.

“They have already begun to adapt,” one voice noted.

“Yes,” the final figure agreed. “So will we.”

The feed began to cut, one by one, each presence dissolving back into nothing as the system erased itself in real time.

The final figure remained for a moment longer, their attention fixed on the frozen image of Tamsin mid-strike.

Then even that disappeared.

And in its place—a single line of text.

Target Priority-Primary.

Followed by another.

Acquisition Required.

Then—darkness. Because this wasn’t over. Not even close.

And the war they had just stepped into—had only just begun.

Chapter Seven

“You’re gripping it like you’re about to break it.”

Jarek glanced down at the sai in his hand, then back up at Tamsin, one brow lifting. “That’s usually how things go when I play with toys.”

Her mouth curved, not soft, not sweet—something sharper.

“That’s because you rely on force,” she said, stepping in closer. “This doesn’t. And these sure as hell are not toys.”

Before he could answer, her hand closed around his wrist, warm and steady as she adjusted his grip, turning his hand just slightly, shifting the angle.

“Loosen it,” she added. “You’re locking yourself out of the movement.”