Page 78 of Daisy

The ride is tense. Silent. Daisy sits on the mattress between Gunner and me while Hawk drives and Dante rides shotgun. Cassian sits at the back of the van, watching through a small gap in the blacked-out windows for any sign of pursuit. Every mile without trouble helps us breathe easier.

But Daisy doesn't relax. She gets smaller. Pulls into herself.

"Talk to me," I say quietly. "What's going on in that head?"

She's quiet for so long I think she won't answer.

"I felt safe." Barely audible. "For the first time in my life, I felt truly safe. And now..."

"Now you feel like safety was just an illusion."

She nods. I see her throat work as she swallows back tears.

"It wasn't an illusion," I tell her. "What you felt was real. What happened with Dante was real. Moving doesn't change that."

Her scent shifts slightly. Embarrassment mixed with something warmer. I can smell traces of Dante on her still, underneath her natural honeysuckle. Something happened between them last night. Something intimate.

"Daisy," I say gently. "Can I ask... are you okay? After last night?"

She looks at me with wide eyes. "You can smell it."

"We all can. But that doesn't mean you owe us details." I keep my voice careful. "As long as you consented. As long as you felt safe."

"I did," she says quickly. "I mean, I asked for it. I wanted it." Color floods her cheeks. "We didn't touch each other... but we touched."

I pause, trying to understand. "How can you not touch but touch?"

"We were in the same space. We... experienced things together. But we didn't actually..." She trails off, too embarrassed to finish.

Understanding dawns. "You explored," I supply gently.

"Yes." Her voice is small. "I'd never felt anything like that before. Never knew my body could feel that way."

"How do you feel about it now?"

"Scared," she admits. "But also... proud? Like I finally did something just because I wanted to."

"Good," I tell her. "That's exactly how you should feel."

She leans against my shoulder, some of the tension leaving her body. "Thank you. For not making me feel ashamed."

"Never," I promise. "Your choices are yours. All of them."

She's quiet for a moment, processing. "I keep thinking about how different it felt. Making my own choice instead of having someone else decide for me."

"That's what freedom looks like," I tell her gently. "One choice at a time."

"I want to make more choices," she says, so quietly I almost miss it. "Real ones."

"You will, sunshine. When you're ready." I stroke her hair gently. "For now, why don't you try to rest? I'll take care of everything."

"All clear back here," Hawk calls from the driver's seat, his voice carefully casual. "False alarm. Nobody is following us."

I feel Daisy's whole body relax against me. Her scent shifts from sharp anxiety to something softer, more neutral. "Oh, that's good," she breathes, relief evident in her voice.

But when I look up, Hawk's eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. The look he gives me is grim. Definitely not a false alarm.

My blood runs cold, but I keep stroking Daisy's hair, keep my voice calm. "Everything's fine now, sunshine. Get some sleep."