My stomach twisted. I didn't like the feeling. At all.
Ash's voice cut through my spiral again. "You didn't have to come, by the way. I could've handled the security updates myself."
That snapped me out of it.
I turned toward her, voice clipped. "It's my job, isn't it?"
Her brows lifted ever so slightly, pleasantly surprised.
And I hated that part of me always wanted her approval. Why the hell do I care what Ashlyn thinks?
But she didn't press. Instead, she smiled in that way of hers that always felt like she knew five more things than she let on, and gestured for us to walk side by side.
"Come on," she said smoothly. "They've set up the main security interface two levels down in the tech bay. Facial recognition's been recalibrated since the incident. I need your eyes on the entry flow."
"Of course," I said, my voice more composed now.
But I didn't miss her glance at my neck.
And I really didn't miss the smugness bleeding from her smirk when she looked away.
