The hours crawled by.
Gray skies, long roads, the hum of tires on uneven pavement. The van rocked slightly with each turn, and the silence inside stretched longer than any conversation could fill.
Kol drove. Quiet. Focused.
The others slept in shifts or stared out the reinforced windows, pretending the fog didn't make them twitch. No one laughed. No one made small talk. Not this time.
Because this time, we all knew what was in the third crate.
And none of us were brave enough to say it out loud.
I sat near the back, one arm slung over the steel bench, eyes half-closed.
Not asleep. Never asleep on shipments like this.
Too much weight.
Too many thoughts.
Too many people relying on me not to fall apart.
Nine's scent lingered on my clothes. I'd pressed his face into my neck just before leaving, let him breathe me in. Let him hold on a little too long.
I could still feel his fingers on my waist. His breath on my throat.
Don't let them hurt you, he'd said.
Like he was the one meant to protect me.
Nyx hadn't stopped pacing since we left the gates.
This is a trap, she kept saying. You know it. They're watching you closer now.
She wasn't wrong.
The moment the boss mentioned loyalty, the moment he smiled after reminding me of how expendable I was—that was the moment the net began to close.
This wasn't just a shipment.
It was a test.
To see if I'd flinch. To see if I'd blink when no one was looking.
And if I failed?
Nine wouldn't survive it.
I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling of the van.
I tried to think of something else. Something easier.
Nine's laugh.
The way he tilted his head when confused.
The way he lit up when I praised him—even for something small.
He didn't know the words for it, but the emotions came through clear. He felt them. Every one of them. Every ripple in my voice, every shift in my gaze, every note of heat in my scent.
He was learning faster than anyone expected.
He was healing faster than I could understand.
And if they found out—
They'd break him all over again.
Or worse.
Remake him into something I wouldn't recognize.
Kol coughed quietly.
"You good back there?"
I blinked. "Fine."
"Too quiet."
"It's always too quiet."
He made a noncommittal sound. "The third crate's making noise."
I went still.
"What kind of noise?"
"Heartbeat. Slow. Barely audible. But it's not dormant anymore."
Nyx?
I know. I feel it too. Whatever's in there is getting restless.
I stood and crossed to the cargo partition. Pressed my palm flat to the panel.
The thrum was faint.
Like something dreaming.
Or waiting.
"Keep driving," I told Kol.
"I wasn't planning on stopping."
The rest of the day passed like smoke.
We didn't stop for lunch. No one asked.
Dinner was canned rations and silence.
When the sun dipped below the horizon, I crawled into the back corner and pulled my knees to my chest, trying not to think.
But all I could think of was the bond.
And the way Nine clung to it now.
And how much I wanted to cling back.