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“Leonid.”

The sound of his name—not the one he wore in the field, but the one that came with history—hit like a jolt.

Kat’s voice, distant and muffled, like through water.

“…let go…”

Let go.

He blinked. The man in his arms had gone still. Limp.

Too far. He released him.

The man hit the floor with a dull, final sound.

Leo stayed crouched, chest heaving, staring at nothing. Not just because the fight was over—because of what it took to end it.

Too much.

“Fuck.” He shoved both hands into his hair, scraped them down his face as if he could scrub off the heat still burning beneath his skin.

Kat was there, kneeling in front of him. She pulled his head to her chest. Her heart thudded steady and real against his cheek, cotton soft between them.

“I’m okay.” He reached up, gripped her arm hard, though his voice came out hoarse.

She eased off her grip, and when he looked at her now, her eyes were too bright.

“Hey.” He cupped her cheek, thumb smoothing beneath her eye.

She bumped her head to his. “Clock’s ticking. We need to move before the cavalry gets here.”

Fuck. Yes.

He boosted to his feet, stripping magazines from the guard’s rifles while Kat pulled zip ties from her pant leg. They quickly dragged the unconscious guards into a supply closet, securing hands and feet before moving on.

Sweat cooled on his back. His hands still shook. This place burrowed under his skin.

He didn’t like what it pulled out of him, and he knew what happened when emotion overrode discipline. That kind of slip cost lives.

He couldn’t let it happen again.

Kat made it personal. That was the risk.

But it also made the mission matter. He had to stay sharp.Controlled.Because if he lost himself again, he couldn’t protect her. He wouldn’t survive failing again.

“Griff. Sit rep.”

“Working on it. We still haven’t breached the array. Fox is working explosives.”

“Hurry.” Leo checked his watch.

Twenty-five minutes.

The corridor curved as he ran with Kat.

A door stood open at the end.

A clinical room. Bed. Chair. IV drip.