Page 29 of A Ballad of Blackbirds and Betrayal

Jade nodded, understanding without requiring details.“Military training, trauma expertise, and experience under fire.No wonder Atticus sees your value beyond the medical knowledge.

“Cal’s sending the data from Cho’s flash drive to your workstation,” she said, changing the subject.“Eden and Nate should have samples within a few hours.”With a final nod, she disappeared through the door, leaving Sabrina alone in the sterile brilliance of the lab.

Alone in the lab, Sabrina lost herself in the familiar rhythm of scientific inquiry.The molecular diagrams filled her screen, complex and daunting, but not incomprehensible.Her medical training kicked in, identifying patterns and anomalies, calculating potential counteragents.She kicked off her heels beneath the workstation, wiggling her toes in relief as she focused on the task at hand.

Hours passed without her notice until the lab door slid open, admitting Eden with two cups of steaming coffee.

“Thought you might need this,” she said, setting one cup beside Sabrina’s workstation.She was still in her tactical gear, the dark fabric contrasting with her olive skin, her fitted tank top revealing the edge of the puckered scar on her chest.

Sabrina accepted the coffee gratefully, suddenly aware of the stiffness in her shoulders and the dryness of her eyes.“Thank you.I didn’t realize it had been that long.”She took a sip, surprised to find it prepared exactly as she preferred—cream, no sugar.Someone had been paying attention.

Eden settled into a chair across from her, studying the molecular diagrams with a deceptively casual air.Up close, the scars were even more dramatic—testament to a violence that should have been fatal.“Making progress?”

“Some,” Sabrina admitted, gesturing to the primary screen where she’d isolated potential binding sites.“The weapon’s structure is unlike anything I’ve seen before.But there are vulnerabilities in the binding mechanism that might be exploitable.”

Eden nodded, her expression revealing nothing of her thoughts.She caught Sabrina’s gaze lingering on her scar and glanced down, touching the edge of it with a slight shrug.“Souvenir from a mission gone wrong.”

The clinical understatement made Sabrina smile despite herself.“That’s a GSW from close range.The fact that you’re alive is nothing short of miraculous.”

“So I’ve been told,” Eden replied, something darkening in her expression before she visibly pushed it aside.“Your Navy file mentioned expertise in chemical countermeasures.”

“You’ve read my file?”Sabrina asked, though she wasn’t particularly surprised.

“We all have,” Eden replied matter-of-factly.“Standard protocol for anyone joining an operation.”She shifted in her chair, and Sabrina noticed she favored her right side slightly—another lingering effect of old injuries.“Though I admit yours was more impressive than most.Field trauma surgery under combat conditions isn’t for the faint of heart.”

“I’m not joining Dynamis,” Sabrina clarified, feeling a need to establish boundaries even as she recognized how hollow the protest sounded.“I’m helping with this specific threat.”

Something like amusement flickered in Eden’s eyes.“That’s how it starts for all of us.A specific threat.A single mission.”She gestured to the lab around them.“Then you realize there’s no going back to normal life.”

The statement hit uncomfortably close to home.Sabrina had tried to focus solely on developing the countermeasure, not on how completely her life had upended in less than twenty-four hours.

“How did you end up here?”she asked, partly from genuine curiosity, partly to deflect from her own uncertainty.

Eden studied her for a long moment, as if weighing what to share.She absently rubbed her thumb over her wedding ring—a simple gold band that gleamed under the lab lights.“I was hunting a man who betrayed me,” she finally said, her voice neutral despite the weight of the statement.“Atticus was hunting him too, for different reasons.Our paths crossed.It turned out we were more effective together than separately.”

“Nate was with him?”

A genuine smile touched Eden’s lips, transforming her serious features and revealing a beauty that her professional demeanor usually concealed.“Nate found me first.He was sent to bring me in for Dynamis.It didn’t go as planned.”

“You resisted?”

“Let’s just say our first meeting involved weapons drawn,” Eden said simply, the slight curve of her lips suggesting there was much more to the story than she was sharing.

Sabrina blinked.“And now you’ve been married for what, eight years?”

“Almost,” Eden confirmed, the smile lingering.“It wasn’t love at first sight.More like…recognition.We understood each other without words.”

The description resonated with Sabrina more than she wanted to admit.That sense of recognition—of seeing beneath the surface to the person underneath—was precisely what had struck her about Atticus from their first meeting.

“It must be difficult,” Sabrina said carefully, fiddling with her ring again.“Working together in such dangerous situations.The constant worry about each other’s safety.”

Eden’s expression turned thoughtful.“It’s easier, actually.We trust each other completely.There’s no room for doubt in what we do.”

“And no room for doubt in what you feel,” Sabrina added, understanding dawning.

“Precisely.”Eden’s gaze sharpened slightly.“Which brings me to you and Atticus.”

Sabrina focused intently on her coffee, certain that the flush she felt rising to her cheeks was visible despite her best efforts to appear unaffected.“There is no me and Atticus.”

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