POV: Ayla

The kitchen holds the four of us without effort.

Someone—Zane, I think—decided the strategy rooms had taken enough of the day. The maps are still active upstairs. The facility strike timing is set. The eastern funnel is briefed to the pairs who need to know. None of that is allowed through the kitchen door tonight. The rule is unspoken and absolute.

Caius stands at the counter breaking bread into a basket with the same precision he uses for everything else. Ryker has taken over the stove without asking, the way he does when he needs his hands occupied by something that is not a weapon or a wall....