Page 16 of Sage Haven
“No.” I shook my head, slow and measured as I responded. “She’s probably just lost.”
The words tasted wrong in my mouth, as I continued, “She’ll leave soon enough.”
Castor wasn’t convinced.
I felt the weight of his stare, the doubt in his gaze. “And you haven’t forgotten that a certain somebody is only thirty feet from her right foot?”
He didn’t have to say more.
I knew exactly what he meant.
I was already counting the distance in my head, already tracking the probabilities.
Last night’s work was buried there.
Close enough that if she wandered, she’d find something she shouldn’t.
“If she gets too close, I’ll handle it,” I said.
My voice was even.
Controlled.
I didn’t have the energy for an argument.
And Castor let it go, for now.
He exhaled, a slow breath.
Before I asked, “How’s our current assignment going?”
A pivot.
“Nothing yet,” he said. “He slipped through my radar, but I’m still looking.” He paused before continuing, “I’ll track him down after the music festival. You’re still going, right?”
The music festival.
I hadn’t gone last year.
Hadn’t left this house for anything that didn’t involve blood or orders.
Maybe that was why the restlessness sat so deep inside me.
“I’ll try. I don’t want to miss seeing Nerv perform live again.”
My next words slipped out, unguarded, a hint louder than I intended.
I winced as soon as they passed my lips, worried we were being too loud and signaling our presence.
“It was complete bullshit that I missed them last year.”
I shifted my attention back to the field.
But when I turned back my gaze—she wasgone.
An unease settled deeper in my chest, cold and sharp.
I should have been relieved.
