Page 30 of Silent Shadows

Because… okay. That’s annoyingly solid.

Jax looks between us like he’s watching tennis.

Taylor whispers loudly to Maya, “So, they’re both weird.”

“I can hear you,” both Daisy and I say.

Taylor loses it with laughter. “This is the best day of my life.”

I bump my glasses up to sit on top of my head and drag a hand down my face. “Can we focus, please?”

“Sure,” Daisy says sweetly. “Lead your meeting.”

I narrow my eyes at her, and she responds with an angelic smile.

The worst part is, I can’t tell if she’s trying to get under my skin or if this is just how she interacts with people.

Either way, it’s working.

I turn back to the monitor and pull up the terrain maps. “Alright. Next three days. We’ll start near the canyon systems east of Four Corners. Most recent sighting reports cluster here—” I point at the screen—“particularly around water access points and cave entrances.”

Daisy’s recorder appears in her hand again.

I point at her without fully turning around. “No strategy recording.”

“I wasn’t recording.”

“You literally clicked the button.”

She pauses for a beat. “You heard that?”

“I hear everything.”

“That’s annoying.”

“It’s field awareness.”

“It’s neuroticism.”

Taylor chokes on her drink, laughing.

I should probably be more offended by her behavior.

Instead, I feel this weird energy buzzing under my skin that I can’t categorize.

Because Daisy doesn’t treat tension like something to avoid. She pushes at things. Pokes at them. At me.

Most people either dismiss me immediately or overcompensate once they realize I actually know what I’m talking about. But Daisy engages, even when she’s making fun of me—especially then.

I clear my throat. “We’ll split into pairs during daylight scouting. Taylor handles transport routes. Jax runs aerial sweeps. Maya and I cross-reference environmental markers.”

“And me?” Daisy asks.

I glance at her.

“You stay with the Machine during active field operations until we establish baseline safety protocols.”

Her expression flattens. “Excuse me?”