She was leading a strike team with Damien into demon territory. If he hit corruption threshold, she'd be responsible for bringing him back. Which apparently required emotional vulnerability and authentic connection she'd been actively avoiding.
And according to Elara, she was already functioning as an anchor whether she'd agreed to it or not.
You already made the choice. Slowly, over weeks of working together.
Had she? Was that true?
Looking back over the past months – the investigation, the partnership, the instinctive trust, the way she sought him out when struggling – it did look like choosing. Just not the formal, decisive choice she'd been waiting to make.
More like slow surrender she hadn't noticed happening until too late to prevent.
"Damn it," she muttered to the empty room.
---
The strike team departed at midnight, moving fast and light through demon-controlled territory.
