Chapter 26. Sabotage

The gym smelled like sweat and disinfectant. Clean enough to fool cameras, dirty enough to feel real.

Lia wrapped her hands slowly, each turn of the tape careful, deliberate. The ache in her right knuckle had been growing since the warehouse fight, but she ignored it. Pain wasn’t new. Pain was just the noise the body made when it remembered it was still alive.

Cassian’s voice carried across the room, sharp as the sound of a glove hitting mitts. “Footwork first. Always first.”

He wasn’t talking to her—not yet—but every word landed anyway. His tone had been different since their hallway conversation: quieter, watching her more than he spoke. The silence between them had shape now.

She finished the last wrap and flexed her fingers. The tape felt thinner than usual. Cheaper brand, maybe. She told herself not to care. She didn’t have time to be superstitious.

Cassian crossed the mat, clipboard in hand. “You good?”

“Always.”

He nodded once, skepti