Chapter 9: Daylight and Cold Truths
The morning light in the mountains wasn't gentle. It was a sharp, blinding white that cut right through the gaps in the heavy curtains. I woke up with my heart doing a slow, heavy thud against my ribs, and for a second, I didn't know where I was. Then I felt the heat.
Caden was still there.
He hadn't moved an inch, but he wasn't asleep. I could tell by the way his breathing was perfectly timed, too rhythmic to be natural. He was lying on his back, eyes fixed on the ceiling, looking like he was calculating the structural integrity of the roof. Maisie was a warm, snoring lump between us, her foot currently resting on Caden's expensive-looking thigh.
I shifted slightly, and his head snapped toward me. Those jet black eyes were alert, no morning grogginess, no "just woke up" softness. The man was a literal machine.
"You're awake," he said. It wasn't a question.
"Hard not to be when the sun is trying to burn my retinas," I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my face. I looked at him, really looked at him, in the clear light of day. He had a faint shadow of stubble on his jaw that made him look less like a robot and more like a man who had seen too much.
"The perimeter is clear," he said, sitting up with a fluid grace that made me feel like a total mess in my wrinkled dress. "But we can't stay here long. The Silversmiths are tech-heavy. If they pulled the traffic cam data from the highway, they'll have a vector on this location within twenty four hours."
"Can't you just let me have five minutes of peace before you start talking about 'vectors' and 'silversmiths'?" I snapped. I was tired of being hunted. I was tired of the fear.
Caden paused, his legs hanging off the side of the bed. He looked back at me, and for the first time, his expression wasn't flat. It was tense. "Peace is a luxury you don't have right now, Amara. You saw a face. In their world, that makes you a walking death warrant."
"Then why are you doing this?" I asked, my voice dropping. "If I'm such a liability, why not just hand me over to your security buddies and go back to your quiet, lonely fortress?"
He stood up, his height dominating the small room. He walked over to the window, pulling the curtain back just a fraction. "Because I don't like losing. And right now, keeping you alive is the only win that matters."
"Is that all it is to you? A win?" I got out of bed, ignoring the way my legs felt like jelly. I walked over to him, stopping just far enough away that I wouldn't accidentally touch him and lose my train of thought. "You bought my kid a unicorn. You read her a book about a diplomatic pony. You carried me when I collapsed. Don't tell me that's just about 'winning', Caden. Even you aren't that good of an actor."
He turned around, and the air between us suddenly felt very, very thin. He looked down at me, his gaze scanning my face with an intensity that made my skin hum.
"You think you know me because I bought a toy?" he rasped. "You don't know the things I've done, Amara. The reasons why I live in a house with biometric locks and no soul. I'm not a hero. I'm a man who's trying to balance a scale that's been tipped toward the dark for a long time."
"Then let me help you balance it," I whispered.
I reached out, my fingers brushing the back of his hand. This time, he didn't flinch. He let out a low, shaky breath, and before I could think about protocols or rules, he moved. His hand came up, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw with a touch so light I thought I might have imagined it.
"You're a glitch, Amara," he whispered, his face inches from mine. "A beautiful, loud, high-vibration glitch that's messing with my entire operating system."
I laughed, a small, breathless sound. "Maybe your system needed a rewrite."
He leaned in, and I thought—I hoped—he was finally going to kiss me. But then, a sharp, digital chirp cut through the moment. It was the silver phone on the nightstand.
Caden pulled back instantly, the mask slamming back into place so fast it made my head spin. He grabbed the phone, his eyes scanning the screen.
"Elias," he said into the line. He listened for ten seconds, his face turning into stone. "Understood. Deploy the decoys. We're moving to Phase Two."
He looked at me, and the "robot" was back in full force. "Get the kid. We leave in ten minutes. They found the highway footage. We're being followed."
"Ten minutes? Caden, she's still asleep!"
"Make her wake up, Amara. Now."
He stormed out of the room, already barking orders into his earpiece. I stood there, my heart sinking. The moment of softness was gone, replaced by the cold reality of the run. I looked at Maisie, then at Pinky the unicorn sitting on the floor, and I felt a wave of pure, unadulterated rage.
I wasn't going to let these people take our lives. And I wasn't going to let Caden hide behind his "protocols" forever. If we were going to be in a war, I was going to make sure he knew exactly what he was fighting for.
I scooped Maisie up, shaking her gently. "Wake up, baby. The adventure is moving to the next level."
We were out the door in nine minutes. Caden was already in the driver's seat, the SUV idling with a low growl. As I climbed in, I caught his eye in the mirror. He looked focused, lethal, and completely detached.
But I knew better now. I knew there was a man under that vest, a man who was scared of how much he wanted to stay in that cabin with us.
"Where to now, Boss?" I asked, my voice dripping with a defiance I didn't know I had.
"The coast," he said, shifting the car into gear. "We're going to get you a new identity. And then, I'm going to end this."
"We're going to end it," I corrected him.
He didn't argue. He just hit the gas, and we disappeared into the trees, leaving the peace of the cabin behind for a future that was anything but certain.