By the time Liam emerged from the bathroom, he had a plan.
It was not a good plan.
That had never stopped him before.
Arik was awake now, sitting against the headboard with one knee bent beneath the blankets, scrolling through reports projected above a thin black tablet. Morning light spilled across the sharp line of his jaw and the loose dark shirt hanging open slightly at the throat.
He looked offensively composed for someone who had spent the last hour committing emotional sabotage before breakfast.
Liam narrowed his eyes while toweling his hair dry.
The heat was gone enough now that his instincts had stopped trying to climb Arik like a medically necessary tree. His mind felt sharp again. Functional. Dangerous.
Which meant he could finally think about the disaster waiting for him outside this suite.
Lab V.
His people.
The Vanguard.
