Chapter 17 #3
“Go,” I say quietly, because I know he has to.
His gaze searches mine for a moment, like he’s checking that I actually mean it, that I’m not about to pull him back into this space where everything feels steady and contained. “I will return,” he says.
“Yeah,” I reply, a faint smile tugging at my mouth. “You’d better.”
That earns me the smallest curve of his lips before he pulls away properly, rising to his full height in one smooth movement that still feels unfairly graceful for someone built like him.
I stay where I am for a second longer, watching the shift settle over him as he steps back into his role, cleans and dresses, the quiet intimacy of the moment folding away without disappearing entirely.
He pauses at the entrance, glancing back once more, and I hold his gaze, steady and certain, before he finally turns and leaves.
The quiet that follows doesn’t feel empty. Just… separate.
I sit for a few seconds longer, letting it settle, then drag a hand over my face and push myself up, bracing for the shift back into everything else.
The settlement feels different in daylight, or maybe I do.
There’s movement everywhere—people reinforcing structures, repairing damage, checking weapons, tending to wounds that couldn’t wait—but there’s a tension under it all now, like everyone’s braced for the next hit even if no one’s saying it out loud.
The Queen didn’t send that many soldiers just to stop.
This was a message. A test. Maybe even a distraction.
Which means something else is coming.
I move through the outer lanes, scanning without thinking, that edge of awareness settling into place like it’s always been there.
I’m looking for Sonny. I want to check on Jack, too, but I hesitate at the thought of just walking up to him.
He had to send Jamie away. Had to stand there and let him go through that rift knowing he couldn’t follow.
That kind of thing isn’t something you interrupt unless you’re sure you won’t make it worse, and I’m not sure of anything right now.
Sonny, though—Sonny will either be distracting him or need distracting himself.
Either way, I can work with that.
I cut down one of the quieter side paths near the outer edge of the settlement, the sounds of movement fading slightly as the trees close in around the boundary, and that’s when I see him.
Caly.
He’s standing near one of the exit routes, half shadowed by the strange, twisted growth that marks the edge of Dathanor, and for a second, it throws me—not because he looks different, but because something about him feels…
off. The absence hits first. There’s no Jamie at his side, no kid hovering nearby, filling the space with questions or commentary or that steady presence he seemed to bring out of Caly without even trying.
But it’s more than that.
Caly is still.
Not in the usual observant way I’ve come to expect, but quieter than that. Closed off in a way that doesn’t quite sit right.
Then I clock it properly.
He’s armed.
Not casually, not in the way everyone else is right now with weapons within reach just in case. He’s fully kitted out, prepared with a level of intent that doesn’t match the rest of the settlement’s defensive posture.
That tells me everything I need to know.
“Going somewhere?” I ask as I step closer.
He turns his head towards me, those vivid blue eyes settling on me with that same bright intelligence, but there’s something heavier sitting behind it now that wasn’t there before.
“Yes,” he says simply.
I stop a few feet away, glancing briefly towards the exit behind him before looking back. “Right,” I say slowly. “That doesn’t exactly scream ‘quick errand.’”
A faint curve touches his mouth, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “No,” he agrees.
I let out a slow breath, studying him properly now. “You’re leaving.”
It’s not a question.
“Yes.”
There it is.
I don’t challenge it.
I could. I could point out the timing, the risk, the fact that we’re likely to get hit again soon, but I don’t. I saw him yesterday, how he held Jamie, the way he let him go. That wasn’t nothing.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Figured.”
He watches me for a moment like he’s waiting for pushback, for resistance that never comes, and something in his posture eases just slightly when I don’t give it.
“I am not abandoning the cause,” he says.
“I didn’t think you were.”
That earns a glint of emotion close to relief… maybe gratitude for not thinking badly of him.
“I will return to the city,” he continues. “There is information there we require. Movement. Patterns. The Crown’s intentions.”
I frown slightly, because yeah—that tracks, but it doesn’t make it any less dangerous. “That’s risky as hell,” I say.
“Yes.”
I study him again, taking in the calm certainty in the way he holds himself. “You sure you’ll be okay?” I ask, my tone all concern.
He tilts his head slightly, considering me. “I have spent time in the city before,” he says. “More than most here realise.”
That doesn’t surprise me.
“I have skills that are… less visible,” he adds.
I huff a quiet breath. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”
That almost earns a proper reaction. “I will not be easily found,” he says.
I nod slowly, because I believe him. Doesn’t mean I’m not worried.
We both hear the footsteps at the same time—distant but closing in.
Caly’s focus sharpens instantly, his posture shifting in a way that’s subtle but unmistakable. “I need to leave,” he says.
“Yeah,” I reply, already knowing that’s not something I can stop. Then it hits me. “You told anyone?” I ask.
Because if he hasn’t—
He hesitates for a second, which is enough to tell me he hasn’t.
“Right,” I mutter, dragging a hand over my dreads. “That’s gonna go down great.”
His gaze returns to mine, and for the first time there’s uncertainty there. “Tell them I will return,” he says.
I exhale slowly. “Caly—”
“I will,” he repeats, more firmly now. “And tell them… I remain committed to this.”
I nod once. “I’ll tell them.”
Another beat passes before he adds, quieter this time, “Tell Jack… that Jamie will be okay.”
That cuts deeper than anything else he’s said.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll tell him.”
He studies me one last time, then inclines his head slightly. “Take care of them,” he says.
“Was planning on it.”
That almost gets a real smile. Then he moves. It’s quick, clean, and final. One second he’s here, the next he’s slipping through the exit path and into the forest beyond, disappearing like he was never part of this place at all.
I stand here for a moment after he’s gone, staring at the space he left behind, the weight of what I now have to pass on settling heavily in my chest. “Fuck,” I mutter, because that conversation’s going to suck.
I turn and head back towards the heart of the settlement, already scanning for Varek—for Jack—knowing neither of them is going to take this lightly.