Sera stayed by the Hummer while the heat bled off the hood.
She didn't move much. She didn't need to. The yard below kept throwing noise and motion at itself, and the men around her turned that noise into work.
Elias finished a check at the grille and wiped his hands on a clean rag before he touched anything else. That small care always pleased her creature.
Clean hands. Clean tools. Keep what is ours right.
Zubair stood ten paces out with glass and a notepad. He didn't waste words. He didn't posture for an audience that wasn't there.
He put weight where it belonged and the ground near him felt steadier for it. Mild amusement slid through her; he never seemed to change, and it was a quality that she was beginning to appreciate more and more when it came to him.
Afterall, the ground should not change.
Alexei lived in her ear like winter held behind a gate: quiet, precise, present when the hinge moved.
