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Chapter 14: The Knife and the Truth

Cain had been following her for over an hour.

Not because he didn’t trust her —

but because something didn’t feel right.

Rook never left the building during missions.

She rarely even left her room when she didn’t have to.

But tonight, she was out.

Moving fast.

Too fast.

---

The city narrowed as he trailed her, eventually giving way to rusted fences and shadows too thick for streetlights.

She entered a warehouse near the outskirts — unregistered, abandoned to most.

Cain waited exactly ten minutes.

Then followed.

---

Inside the Warehouse

The first thing he noticed was the silence.

Then the blood.

Three men — groaning, slumped against crates — bleeding but alive.

Not dead.

But close.

In the center stood Rook.

Small frame.

Shadow-drenched.

A knife in one hand.

A pen drive in the other.

---

Cain didn’t move.

He stepped in slowly, carefully.

She turned her head slightly — her golden eyes barely visible in the dark.

No fear. No alarm.

She knew he’d followed her.

> “I told them to talk,” she said quietly.

“They didn’t.”

He stared at the scene — bruises, shattered noses, one man clutching his dislocated shoulder.

> “You did this alone?”

She didn’t answer.

Just walked forward and handed him the pen drive.

> “Proof,” she said.

“This is everything. Shipment lists. Kidnapping records. Medical files. Names. Locations. Dates.”

Cain looked down at the drive.

> “You hacked them?”

> “I threatened their children.”

He looked up sharply.

She didn’t flinch.

> “They deserved it,” she added.

“They sold organs of ten-year-olds.”

Cain’s hand closed around the drive.

> “You could’ve told us.”

> “You would've tried to stop me.”

He exhaled.

> “And what would’ve happened if they’d stabbed you first?”

She looked at him — this time almost in the eye.

> “Then you'd have a pen drive, and nothing left to protect.”

---

He stepped forward, took the knife gently from her hand, and dropped it into his coat pocket.

> “We’re not doing this again, Rook. Not alone.”

She looked away.

> “You’re mad.”

> “I’m terrified.”

A beat.

> “And proud,” he added.

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She didn’t say thank you.

But her fingers curled once in the air between them — a movement so small, it could’ve been missed.

He noticed.

He always did.

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End of Chapter 14