Clad
I am free.
For tonight.
Finally, I am letting loose.
It's unlike me, of course—but necessary. Liberation was long overdue. Liberation from her.
The last two days have been hell. Harley has been impossible to work with, flinching at everything I said, treating every action of mine like another blow to her already raw nerves. It didn't matter that I was trying to protect her. That I had *distanced* myself only to keep her safe from threats she wasn't even aware of yet.
Still, her coldness cut deeper than I cared to admit.
But I don't regret it.
I never do things I regret.
I act out of necessity—first for my survival, and now, for hers.
I twist the throttle, the bike roaring under me as I tear up the mountain road, the back tire sliding ever so slightly on the thin dust lining the cracked asphalt. It's reckless, and that's exactly why I'm here. I needed the edge. The danger. The reminder that I was still alive.
