Page 49 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Bay swallowed. “You’re the only one who—”

“No,” Sabre cut in, not harsh, but firm. “I’m not.”

Bay shook her head again. “Yes, you are.”

Vale cut in. “I’m your attorney,” he said. “Right now, I’m the one standing between you and a conviction. You need to work with me.”

Bay’s composure cracked and she pleaded with Sabre. “You don’t understand what happens if you don’t—”

“Then tell me,” Sabre said, her tone sharper. “If you want me involved at all, you start talking. Fully. Right now.”

Bay’s shoulders dropped. It wasn’t surrender, but close. She was on the edge of saying something that might finally matter.

Sabre didn’t push. She waited. Vale did the same. Silence stretched.

Finally, Bay turned her arm over exposing her wrist. “Okay,” she said. “You want something? Look at this.”

Sabre stared at the small, faded mark on the inside of her wrist that looked like a symbol. It had a straight vertical line with a curved hook curling upward at the lower left and a matching curve on the right side, turned downward.

Sabre leaned in. “Where did you get that?”

Bay pulled her arm back, but not all the way. “You’ve seen it before.”

Sabre’s brow tightened. “No.”

Bay shook her head. “You just don’t remember.”

Vale leaned in just enough to see. “What is it?”

Bay ignored him. “He uses it,” she said. “When he wants to show that someone’s his.”

“Who?”

Bay hesitated. “I was told you’d recognize it.”

Sabre felt something in her memory shift. “What does it mean?” she asked.

Bay swallowed. “It means I belong to him.”

Ethan’s expression hardened. “Who is he?”

Bay finally looked at him, not with trust, not with fear, just acknowledgment. “You’re not asking the right question.”

Vale held her gaze. “Then help me ask the right one.”

“You don’t get to.” She shifted back to Sabre. “I was told that if you saw it, you’d know this isn’t over.”

“What isn’t over?”

The girl sat back, putting distance between them again. “The part you didn’t finish.”

“Are you talking about Hannah?” Sabre asked.

Bay didn’t answer. But she didn’t look confused either.

“Are you Hannah?”

“No,” Bay scoffed.