“STAND STILL,” Jeremiah murmured.
Snow tapped softly against the high windows of the compound’s private training room, turning the cold glass into a shifting blur of white. Christmas lights glowed faintly along the rafters, strung there by someone who had tried to make the brutal place feel human. The soft gold light fell across the mats, across Lily’s flushed face, across Jeremiah’s focused eyes as he stood inches from her.
She did not stand still.
She tilted her chin up, just slightly, defiant and playful at once. “You always say that,” Lily replied. “You never mean it.”
Jeremiah exhaled through his nose. “I mean it right now.”
She moved anyway.
Just a step. Barely a shift of weight. Enough to throw off his stance.
He caught her wrist instantly, reflex sharp and unthinking, his fi
