ADAM
I had been trying to ignore the thought all morning, but it kept circling back like a persistent storm cloud.
Sage and Darius.
There was something between those two—something sharp-edged, hidden, threaded far too deeply for my liking. Not the softness of affection or the childish cling of old friendship.
No. This was something darker. Purposeful. Bound by secrets I wasn't allowed to touch.
One of the contestants had reported it to me just before sunrise: He had seen them vault the fence in the dead of night.
Vault the fence. Like two shadows. Like two people with something to hide.
Where had they gone? When had they returned? How long had they been sneaking around without my knowledge?
I had dispatched my men the moment I heard the report. Their message came back not long ago—quiet, irritating, inconclusive:
"Sage is in her house."
"Darius is in his house."
As though that solved anything.
My jaw tightened. What were those two planning? What were they in together?
