Chapter 170: Couldn’t get enough of me, could you?

I stepped out of the office like the walls were closing in behind me.

Head down. Hands shoved into my pockets. Moving fast enough to look like I had somewhere to be, not fast enough to draw eyes.

God…what the hell was that?

The whole thing sat wrong in my chest.

Jennifer’s smile. The way she looked at me. The way she said my name like she’d already decided something about me I wasn’t in on.

And the lattice—

It hadn’t just stirred. It reacted.

A low hum under my skin, like something brushing up against it, testing it. Curious.

That didn’t happen for nothing.

Something about her wasn’t just off.

It was wrong.

I pushed past a couple people in the hallway without meaning to. A guy cursed under his breath as I clipped his shoulder. I didn’t look back.

There were too many bodies.

Too many voices.

Too much movement.

People lined up against walls, sitting on crates, arguing in low tones, laughing like they hadn’t spent years outside barely surviving. Soldiers walked through it all like they owned the air.

Maybe they did.

Even in Texas, there hadn’t been so much…prople I needed to maneuver around.

Of course there wasn’t.

This was a whole fucking civilization. Easy to get lost in. Easy to disappear.

…

Easy to get lost in…huh?

That thought should’ve comforted me.

It didn’t.

Because if I could disappear—

So could anyone else.

I slowed.

Not on purpose.

My body just… did it.

My eyes locked onto someone across the flow of people.

They weren’t in uniform.

Weren’t trying to stand out either.

But I knew that face.

The second our eyes met, something sharp cut through my chest.

Blood.

Gunfire.

Running through trees.

A voice shouting behind me.

It hit all at once.

And I saw it in their face too.

Recognition.

Shit.

They turned—fast—grabbing the shoulder of the person next to them, pointing straight at me.

I was already moving.

I dipped my head, angled my body, slipped sideways into a group passing between us. A woman snapped at me as I brushed past her, but I didn’t stop.

Blend.

Keep moving.

Don’t give them a clean look.

My heartbeat climbed into my throat as I shoved through the crowd.

So much for the haircut.

My pace picked up.

Faster now.

More urgent.

They were here.

Not just random survivors.

Them.

The kid. The group.

Which meant—

They’d followed the same trail.

Or worse…

They’d been looking for me.

—

I didn’t slow down until I hit the door to my quarters.

I shoved it open hard enough for it to slam against the wall.

“Lila, you wouldn’t believe the people I’d just ran into. Bill and his people are—…”

Here.

Naomi was here, standing in the middle of the room like she owned it.

Everything in me froze.

For a second, my brain refused to process it.

Like I was looking at something that didn’t belong in the same space as me anymore.

Then everything snapped into place.

Lila—

She was tied to a chair.

Wrists bound. Shoulders tense. A man leaned over her, one hand braced against the backrest, the other gripping something sharp.

Her mouth moved fast, beneath the ropes, words spilling out too quick to understand.

Then she saw me.

And the sound changed.

Lower.

Rougher.

Like something inside her had just been let loose.

My chest tightened.

My eyes went cold.

“Naomi.”

She flinched at the way I said it.

“Adrian—listen, it’s not—this isn’t what it looks like—”

But I wasn’t looking at her anymore.

Because there was someone else.

Blonde hair.

That stupid streak gone now, but it didn’t matter.

Cherie.

She crossed the room in two steps—

—and slammed into me.

Her arms wrapped tight around my shoulders, like if she let go I’d disappear again.

For a second…

I didn’t react.

Didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Because my brain hadn’t caught up yet.

She was dead.

She was supposed to be dead.

I felt her fingers curl tighter into my shirt.

“You’re alive,” she said, voice breaking—actually breaking—like she’d been holding that in for too long.

Something in my chest shifted.

Sharp.

Uncomfortable.

Real.

Slowly… I lifted a hand.

Not all the way.

Just enough to touch her back.

Just enough to confirm—

She’s real.

“…Yeah,” I said quietly.

My voice didn’t sound like mine.

She pulled back just enough to look at me, her hands still gripping my arms like she didn’t trust distance.

“You disappeared,” she said. “We thought—”

She stopped.

Didn’t finish it.

Didn’t need to.

I swallowed.

My eyes flicked past her—

And landed on Lila.

Her body strained against the ropes, veins showing along her neck as her breathing picked up.

Her eyes—

They were changing.

Dark red bleeding into the whites.

Shit.

With that, the moment snapped.

I forced myself to move, bringing another hand up and placing it awkwardly against Cherie’s back.

Not really hugging.

Just… responding.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said, voice breaking just enough to show it mattered.

I swallowed.

“Yeah. Me neither.”

Lila let out a sharp, broken sound behind her.

Not words.

Something worse.

—

“So this is the guy?”

A voice cut through everything.

I pulled away from Cherie, turning.

A man leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking me up and down like I was something he’d expected to be bigger.

“Thought he’d look a bit more… impressive.”

I stared at him.

“…what the fuck is going on?”

Cherie stepped back, hands half-raised like she was trying to calm something she couldn’t control.

“Oh— uhm…these guys are Saul and Jackson. You already know Naom—”

“I don’t care.”

My voice came out flat.

Cold.

“Why is she tied up?”

Silence.

Naomi answered.

“She didn’t exactly welcome us in.”

My eyes snapped to her.

“And you thought that meant this?”

“She tried to attack us,” Cherie added, more defensive now. “We had to—”

“I don’t care what you thought justified this.”

The room went still.

My jaw tightened.

“Untie her.”

Cherie hesitated.

So did Naomi.

That hesitation said everything.

I stepped forward slightly.

“Now.”

“Listen— Adrian…” Cherie began.

I never looked at her.

She continued anyway.

“God knows I never wanted a reunion like this.”

I exhaled sharply, looking at her then.

“But…we’re here now. And…you’re alive.”

My gaze didn’t soften.

A beat.

Cherie glanced at Saul then, gesturing for him to cut her loose.

He stood there looking at her for a moment.

Then pushed off the wall with a small sigh, like this was already annoying him.

He moved behind Lila, crouching down, blade working at the bindings.

The second the rope gave—

Lila exploded.

She lunged forward, fist cracking against Saul’s face with a sharp thud.

“—shit! SAUL!”

He stumbled back, grabbing his nose as blood spilled between his fingers.

“YOU BITCH—!”

Jackson rushed forward, grabbing Lila around the shoulders, trying to pin her down again.

She twisted violently, elbow slamming into his ribs.

He grunted, grip loosening for half a second.

That was all she needed.

She broke free, stumbling back, chest heaving.

Her eyes locked onto me.

Red.

Fully red now.

And then—

She saw them.

All of them.

Her lips pulled back slightly, something feral slipping through.

“She touched you,” she breathed, voice shaking. “She touched you.”

“No—Lila—”

“You let her touch you.”

Her gaze flicked to Cherie.

Then Naomi.

Then back to me.

Something cracked behind her eyes.

“Adrian…” she said softer now, stepping toward me.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t step back.

Didn’t step forward either.

Just watched.

Behind her, Saul wiped blood from his nose, glaring, Jackson already moving to help him up.

“Fuck…what the hell is wrong with her?”

Jackson straightened, breathing hard.

“This is what you’ve been running around with?”

Naomi didn’t say anything.

She just watched me.

Waiting.

Like she already knew this was the moment everything tipped one way or the other.

Lila stopped a few feet in front of me.

Her hands twitched at her sides.

Like she didn’t know whether to reach for me—

Or something else.

“Tell me,” she said, voice breaking. “Tell me they didn’t mean anything.”

My throat tightened.

“Lila—”

“Tell me.”

The room held its breath.

Every eye on me.

I could feel it.

All of it.

The weight.

The expectation.

The past.

The present.

Everything pressing down at once.

I looked at her.

Really looked.

The way her fingers curled like she was holding herself back from doing something she wouldn’t come back from.

Then I glanced past her.

At Cherie.

At Naomi.

At the blood on Saul’s hand.

At Jackson’s stance, ready to jump back in.

At the door.

Closed.

No easy way out.

I exhaled slowly.

“…untie the rest,” I said quietly.

No one moved.

“I said—untie the rest.”

My eyes didn’t leave Lila.

Because I knew—

The second anyone tried anything again—

This wasn’t going to stay a conversation.

And something in me…

Something deep…

Despite the connections I had in the room—

Was already deciding how far I was willing to go when it stopped being one.

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