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"Mission parameters: exceeded."

"Emotional entanglement: detected."

"Final warning: Extract imminent."

The last one makes my blood run cold. The clinical language can't mask the threat beneath. I've seen extractions before - agents yanked mid-mission, their human lives erased without a trace. No goodbyes. No explanations. Just... gone.

But those agents are normally guilty of things far worse than a date or two. Like exposing multiple humans to their true form, engaging in violence, or trying to interfere in human politics.

Surely, falling in love doesn't count among those wrongs?

My fingers trace the edge of my desk as I read the final message again:

"Your behavior patterns indicate dangerous deviation from mission objectives. Personal involvement with subject V.W. has exceeded acceptable parameters. You have 48 hours to resume standard observation protocols or immediate extraction will commence. This is not a request."

I slam my fist on the desk, hard enough to crack the wood. In my frustration, my form slips - red skin bleeding through my human disguise before I catch myself. Years of training, of discipline, of putting the mission first... all undone by a woman who makes terrible puns and draws hearts in coffee foam.

But they're right. I'm compromised. Every time I see her, I forget why I'm here. Instead of studying human behavior, I'm lost in the way she tucks her hair behind her ear when she's nervous. Instead of maintaining professional distance, I'm planning ways to make her smile.

The choice looms before me: my duty or my heart. Everything I've worked for, everything I am, against everything I've discovered I could be. With her.

My communicator buzzes again. Another message:

"Countdown initiated. 47:52:13 remaining."

The numbers tick down, each second pulling me closer to a decision I'm not ready to make. My training says duty. My heart...

My heart says Vanessa.

CHAPTER15

VANESSA

Ifidget with my coffee cup, unable to contain my smile as Becca leans across our usual corner table at The Love Roast. "Spill. Everything."

"These past two nights with Jack..." Heat rises to my cheeks. "God, Bec. I've never felt anything like it."

"Details. Now." She wiggles her eyebrows.

"The first time was on this rooftop. We were stargazing, and he knew all these constellations I'd never heard of. The way he explained them..." I bite my lip. "Then he kissed me, and it was like... electricity. Pure electricity."

"And then?"

My face burns hotter. "Let's just say the stars weren't the only spectacular view that night."

"Vanessa Wright! You little minx." Becca claps her hands. "And the second time?"

"He took me to this private cooking class. The whole time, his hands kept brushing against mine while we chopped vegetables. The way he looked at me..." I trail off, remembering how safe I felt in his arms. "We barely made it through my front door."

"Girl." Becca grabs my hands. "This is different. I can see it in your face."

"It is. He makes me feel... wanted. Really wanted. Not just physically, but like he sees me. All of me."

"So..." Becca draws out the word. "Are you two official?"

The smile slips from my face. "I don't know. We haven't talked about it."

"Why not? He's clearly into you."