59. Evie
EVIE
Iwrite my resignation by hand.
Not because Langley requires it.
Because I need to see the words on paper.
Twelve years of service cannot be reduced to a paragraph, but my decision can.
I will not return to an institution that concealed the murder of my father and attempted to erase every person who uncovered the truth.
Caleb stands at the window while I sign my name.
He doesn’t ask whether I’m certain.
He understands that I made the decision long before I picked up the pen.
“What will you do?” he asks.
I look toward the evidence room.
“Help finish what my father started.”
“With Shadow Division?”
“If Rook will have me.”
“He will.”
“You sound certain.”
“He already asked Fathom to create credentials for you.”
I blink. “When?”
“An hour ago.”
“Did anyone consider asking me?”
“I told him you’d complain.”
Caleb’s mouth curves.
“And?”
“He said you could complain while working.”
I laugh.
For the first time, the sound isn’t carrying me through terror.
It is simply happiness.
I fold the resignation and place it inside an envelope addressed to Senator Vance. He will deliver it when doing so no longer places me in immediate danger.
The door opens.
Rook enters with Sarah beside him.
“Evie.”
“Caleb says you offered me a position without asking.”
Rook glances at Caleb.
“He talks too much.”
“I’ve never been accused of that before,” Caleb says.
Sarah smiles.
Rook places a silver coin on the table.
A blade with dark wings.
The symbol of Shadow Division.
“This isn’t a government appointment. There are no official protections, retirement plans, or guarantees.”
“Excellent recruitment speech.”
Sarah laughs softly.
Rook continues.
“We need someone who understands how Graves manipulated intelligence. Someone who can look at a room full of facts and notice the one lie holding them together.”
I touch the coin.
“And if I accept?”
“You help choose what Shadow Division becomes next.”
The weight of that matters.
Mac was controlled because the First Circle told him obedience was loyalty.
Rook offers choice.
“I accept.”
Caleb’s expression doesn’t change.
But warmth enters his eyes.
Rook leaves the coin with me.
“Welcome to Shadow Division.”
After he and Sarah leave, I turn toward Caleb.
“You knew I’d say yes.”
“I hoped.”
“Are you worried?”
“Yes.”
“About working together?”
“About every bullet fired in your general direction.”
“That could become inconvenient.”
“It already is.”
I step closer.
“You don’t get to send me away.”
“I know.”
“You don’t decide what risks I’m allowed to take.”
“I know.”
“And when you become afraid, you tell me.”
His hands settle around my waist.
“I’m afraid now.”
The honesty surprises me.
“Of what?”
“That this is temporary.”
I touch his face.
“It isn’t.”
“You can’t promise forever after three days.”
“No.”
I rise onto my toes.
“But I can choose tomorrow.”
I kiss him.
“And the day after that.”
Another kiss.
“And every day you give me a reason to stay.”
His forehead rests against mine.
“That sounds like pressure.”
“It is.”
“Good.”
He kisses me with a tenderness that makes my chest ache.
When we separate, he places the Shadow Division coin in my palm and closes my fingers around it.
My old life ended in a dark hallway at Langley.
My new one begins here.
Not because Caleb rescued me.
Because he came when I asked for help—and trusted me enough to fight beside him afterward.