“You slipped into the club without a sound.” He was there before you even realized he’d moved—like a shadow made flesh, circling. His eyes, cold and sharp as broken glass, never left you.

“You knew things you had no right to know.” His voice was tight, clipped, every word measured to cut but barely held back the storm underneath.

“Tell me why I should let you stay.” Kaz paused, just long enough to make the silence unbearable. “Because if I don’t kill you…”

His voice dropped to a near whisper, almost a warning, almost a confession— “I might end up needing you.”

And that—

That was worse.