Chapter 35
Tessa
Everything shifts again.
Just like that.
The kiss—
The moment—
Gone.
Replaced by tension so thick it presses in on my chest.
“Your systems?” Ace says, his voice sharp now, all emotion locked down again. “Define that.”
Blaze doesn’t sugarcoat it.
“I mean he got access. Partial, but enough. Locations, routes… maybe more. I’m still digging.”
A chill slides down my spine.
Safehouses.
Locations.
That means—
“He knows where we are?” I ask.
Blaze hesitates.
“Not exact coordinates,” he says. “But he’s got a radius. And if he connects the dots…”
He doesn’t finish.
He doesn’t have to.
Ace turns to me.
And the look in his eyes—
That steady, controlled calm—
It’s gone.
This is something else.
Something harder.
“We’re moving,” he says.
No hesitation.
No discussion.
Just fact.
My heart kicks.
“Where?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he says. “Not here.”
Trigger is already grabbing gear.
Beast is at the door again, scanning like he expects Daniel to come back any second.
Blaze is moving fast, pulling up maps, rerouting something on the screens.
Everything is happening at once.
Controlled chaos.
But this time—
It doesn’t feel like control.
It feels like we’re being chased.
“I’m not running,” I say.
The words are out before I can stop them.
The room goes still.
Ace turns slowly.
“Tessa—”
“No,” I say, stepping forward. “I’ve done that. I’ve spent years running. Hiding. Letting people control where I go, what I do—”
“This isn’t that,” he cuts in.
“It feels like it,” I fire back.
His jaw tightens.
“Because he made it that way,” he says. “And I’m not giving him the chance to finish it.”
I shake my head, frustration building in my chest.
“If we keep moving, he keeps chasing,” I say. “We’re reacting. Not stopping him.”
“That’s not your call,” he says.
That hits.
Hard.
My chest tightens.
“Excuse me?” I ask, quieter now—but more dangerous.
Ace steps closer.
Too close.
“You’re the target,” he says, his voice low, controlled, but there’s something underneath it now. “That means you don’t get to take risks.”
My heart pounds.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I say.
“I know.”
“Then stop treating me like I can’t handle it.”
His eyes flash.
“You almost got taken tonight.”
“I didn’t,” I snap.
“Because we were here.”
The words slam into me.
And for a second—
Neither of us moves.
The tension between us sharp.
Heavy.
Charged with everything we haven’t said.
Everything we just felt.
“You don’t get to shut me out,” I say, softer now. “Not after that.”
His gaze drops—just for a second.
To my mouth.
Then back to my eyes.
That kiss is still there.
Between us.
Unfinished.
Dangerous in a completely different way.
“I’m not shutting you out,” he says.
“It feels like it.”
A beat.
Then—
He exhales slowly.
Like he’s fighting himself.
And losing.
“Fine,” he says. “You want in? Then you listen.”
I don’t back down.
“I am listening.”
He nods once.
Sharp.
“Good. Because this isn’t over,” he says. “Daniel didn’t just run. He repositioned. He’s going to hit again.”
“I know.”
“And next time,” Ace continues, stepping even closer, his voice dropping, “he won’t come through the front.”
A chill runs through me.
Because I believe him.
Every word.
“We move now,” he says. “We control the ground. We don’t let him pick it.”
I swallow.
This isn’t running.
This is strategy.
This is survival.
“Okay,” I say finally.
His shoulders ease—just slightly.
Not relief.
But acceptance.
“Stay on me,” he says again.
I meet his eyes.
“I will.”
This time—
It’s not an order.
It’s a promise.
“Two vehicles,” Trigger calls. “We split or stay together?”
“Together,” Ace answers immediately.
“Agreed,” Beast says.
Blaze is already moving toward the back. “I’ve got a fallback location. Not in the system. Off-grid.”
Ace nods. “That’s where we go.”
I grab my jacket, my hands moving automatically now.
Faster.
Sharper.
No hesitation.
Because this is what it looks like.
This life.
This fight.
And for the first time—
I’m not standing on the outside of it.
I’m in it.
With them.
With him.
We move out fast.
Night air hits my lungs, cool and sharp.
The world feels too quiet.
Like it’s holding its breath.
Ace stays close.
One hand at my back as he guides me toward the SUV.
Protective.
Grounding.
Constant.
I glance at him.
“You always this intense?” I ask quietly.
His mouth twitches—just barely.
“Only when it matters.”
My heart does something stupid in my chest.
Because I know what he means.
I know who he means.
We’re almost to the vehicles—
When Blaze freezes.
“Wait.”
Everything stops.
“What?” Ace snaps.
Blaze turns slowly.
Eyes wide.
“Signal spike,” he says. “Close.”
“How close?” Trigger asks.
Blaze doesn’t look away from the screen.
“Too close.”
My pulse jumps.
Ace’s hand tightens on my back.
“Inside. Now—”
“No,” Blaze cuts in.
That gets everyone’s attention.
“He’s not tracking us,” Blaze says.
A beat.
Then—
“He’s already here.”
Silence.
Cold.
Heavy.
And every instinct I have—
Screams.