Page 159 of Black Reign

VESPER: Still asking the wrong question.

GHOST: Then give me the right one.

The response takes longer this time.

VESPER: Ask yourself why I wanted to see you before I let you see me.

My smile fades.

There’s something beneath that.

Not teasing.

Something heavier.

I type:

GHOST: Why?

No response.

Ten seconds.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Then:

VESPER: Because knowing someone through a screen is safer than knowing what they can do to you in the real world.

The words settle differently.

I read them again.

Vesper rarely offers vulnerability without burying it under three layers of sarcasm.

This isn’t casual.

GHOST: I would never hurt you.

The answer comes almost immediately.

VESPER: You don’t know that.

My fingers stop.

Not I don’t know that.

You don’t.

I stare at the screen.

GHOST: What does that mean?

Nothing.

The channel stays quiet.