The safehouse didn't feel safe.
Morning seeped in through cracked blinds, painting pale stripes across the floorboards. The rain had stopped, but the silence left in its wake was worse. Ezra sat at the table, hollow-eyed from a night without sleep, the pistol still within reach. Every tick of the wall clock grated against his nerves.
Kai had barely moved all morning. He leaned against the counter, coffee untouched in his hand, gaze sharp, distant. He looked like he'd already run the night a hundred times in his head, dissected it, carved it into patterns only he understood.
Jace, on the other hand, stretched like a cat waking from a nap. He yawned, ruffled his damp hair, and gave Ezra a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "You look like hell."
Ezra ignored him.
Jace sauntered closer, plopping himself into the chair opposite. "Nightmares? Or just couldn't stop reliving your starring role in last night's performance?"
Ezra's jaw tightened. "Shut up."
Jace leaned in, voice low, smoke-rough from too many cigarettes. "You think you're special? You think Kai hasn't put others through the same fire? The game doesn't care how much you shake after the first pull. It just wants to know if you'll do it again."
Kai's voice cut through, cool and sharp. "Enough."
Jace sat back, smirking. "Just giving him a taste of the truth."
Kai's eyes flicked to Ezra, assessing, dissecting. "Truth is what got us ambushed."
The room went still.
Ezra looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
Kai set down the coffee cup, untouched. "Someone tipped them off. They knew where we'd be. They were waiting."
Jace whistled low. "And here I thought you were untouchable."
Kai ignored the jab, his gaze unwavering. "There's a leak."
Ezra's stomach dropped. "A… leak?"
Jace's grin sharpened. "Means someone's feeding them information, pretty boy. Could be anyone. Could even be sitting right across from you."
Ezra stiffened, heat rushing to his face. "You think it's me?"
"I think it's interesting," Jace said, dragging out the words, "that you just happened to pick up a gun for the first time last night, and somehow you're still breathing. The odds don't usually play that nice."
Ezra shoved his chair back. "I didn't—"
"Sit down," Kai ordered.
The command cracked like a whip. Ezra froze, then slowly lowered himself back into the chair, every nerve on fire.
Kai's expression didn't change. "Jace runs his mouth because he likes watching people bleed without touching them. Don't let him."
Ezra swallowed hard, pulse racing. "Then what are you saying? You think someone betrayed us?"
Kai's eyes narrowed. "I don't think. I know."
The words landed heavy, final.
Jace tilted his head. "So, what's the plan, boss? You gonna sniff out the rat by staring holes into us all morning?"
Kai's silence was louder than shouting.
Ezra rubbed at his temples, exhaustion clawing at him. "If there's a leak… what does that mean for us?"
Kai's gaze snapped to him. "It means they'll keep coming. Until we find out who's feeding them."
Ezra's chest tightened. He thought about the man in the warehouse, about the way his life had ended with one pull of the trigger. If what Kai was saying was true, there would be more men, more guns, more blood. And maybe next time, Ezra wouldn't be fast enough.
The idea of killing again made him want to vomit. The idea of dying made him colder still.
Jace propped his boots up on the table, smirking at Kai. "So, you'll play interrogator now? Lock us in a room, see who cracks first? I'd pay to watch."
Kai's jaw ticked. He didn't answer.
Ezra couldn't take it anymore. "Why would anyone betray us? What's the point?"
Jace blew out a laugh. "Money. Fear. Power. Pick your poison. Everyone's got a price. Everyone breaks eventually."
Kai's eyes flicked to Ezra again, and Ezra felt the weight of it—like Kai was peeling him apart, layer by layer, looking for cracks.
His throat tightened. "You don't think it's me." It wasn't a question, it was a plea.
Kai didn't blink. "If I thought it was you, you wouldn't still be breathing."
Ezra exhaled shakily, relief and terror tangled.
Jace grinned wider. "See? That's our fearless leader. Comforting as always."
The day dragged, heavy and suffocating. They stayed locked inside, waiting, watching. Ezra tried to distract himself—counting the lines in the wood floor, listening to the faint creak of pipes—but his mind kept circling back.
The pistol sat near him again, silent, patient. Every time he looked at it, he thought less about the man he killed and more about the fact that he might need to do it again.
At one point, Jace tossed him a pack of cigarettes. "Take the edge off."
"I don't smoke," Ezra muttered.
"You didn't kill, either. Until last night." Jace's smirk was cruel. "First time for everything."
Ezra shoved the pack back at him, disgust curling in his stomach. But when Jace lit one up, Ezra found himself watching the smoke spiral in the air, wishing for something—anything—that would dull the weight pressing on his chest.
Kai interrupted, voice sharp. "We're moving tonight."
Ezra blinked. "Moving?"
"They'll come back. We don't wait for the noose to tighten."
Jace arched a brow. "And where exactly are we moving to?"
Kai's eyes were shards of steel. "Somewhere they don't expect. Somewhere I can flush out whoever's feeding them."
Ezra's heart pounded. "And if you can't?"
Kai's voice was flat, final. "Then none of us walk out alive."
The words hung in the air, cold and heavy. Ezra swallowed, his stomach twisting.
Jace leaned back, exhaling smoke with a grin. "Well. At least it won't be boring."
Ezra stared at Kai, searching his face for something—reassurance, humanity, anything. But Kai was a wall. Unmovable.
And for the first time, Ezra wondered if the man he was beginning to trust… might also be the one pulling every string.