Page 38 of Gunnar

I’m not going to give her false hope. She deserves better than that.

Instead, I pace around the kitchen, clenching my fists to keep my anger in check.

“I didn’t leave any extra food for my cat. He must be starving,” she says quietly.

Orson exhales through his nose. “We can’t do anything about that.”

I direct a low warning growl at him.

If she hears it, she gives no sign. “So, I’m just supposed to sit here and not know?”

“You’re supposed to stay alive,” Orson replies.

Her mouth tightens. “Those two things are not mutually exclusive.”

Torin glances between them, then looks away again, like he’s trying not to get involved.

Alexandria leans forward, bracing her forearms on the table. “I’m not asking for much. Just someone to check on them. Make sure they’re okay.”

“They are,” he says. “Or they’re not. Us knowing doesn’t change it.”

Her jaw tightens. “It changes it for me.”

Silence again.

Torin shifts his weight, watching her now instead of me.

She looks between us, searching.

“I could go,” she says. “I could borrow your truck and go in disguise.”

“No.”

It comes out sharp.

She flinches, then steadies herself. “I’d be careful.”

“No,” I repeat.

“You said I’m in danger,” she says. “So let me do something about it.”

“Going back down there is exactly what they want.”

“I’m not just going to sit here and wait for news that might never come.”

“You are,” I say. “For now.”

Her eyes flash. “That’s not your call.”

“It is here.”

The words hang between us.

Orson lets out a short breath. “This is what I was talking about.”

I ignore him.

She’s shaking now. Trying not to show it.