Selene sits in the passenger seat, her knee bouncing ever so slightly—a subtle but telling sign of her nerves. I don’t blame her. My grip on the wheel is tight enough that my knuckles ache, but I can’t seem to loosen it. In the backseat, Mo leans forward, her elbows on her knees, eyes sharp as she scans the road ahead. She hasn’t uttered a word in at least fifteen minutes, which is saying a lot.

We’re heading to the cafe first, a quick pit stop to grab some supplies Aubrey left behind when she closed up for the week. The last fucking week she’ll ever step foot in Bear & Brew. Maybe even as a free person.

I swallow against the burn in my throat. My cafe. I’ve been saying that since the day I took it over, but it’s never felt more personal than it does right now. Because it wasn’t just a business to me—it was my safe place, my home, a part of my damn soul. And all this time, Aubrey was there. Laughing, serving coffee, and playing the role of doting aunt as if she hadn’t left a trail of bodies behind her. Like she hadn’t stolen people’s lives, destroyed families, killed my mother—

My jaw tightens, the anger a slow, simmering thing that’s been festering since the moment I found out what she really is. It builds in my chest, thick and suffocating, but I can’t let it take over. Not yet.

I force myself to take a steady breath. Keep it together. One more hour. Then she won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.

“You okay?” I ask, my voice rougher than I mean for it to be.

Selene nods, but it’s a little too quick. “Yeah. Just…running through everything in my head.”

“Me too,” Mo mutters from the back. She’s been quieter than usual, her usual sharp tongue dulled by the weight of what’s coming.

“We’ve got this,” I say, trying to inject more confidence into my voice than I feel. “We’ve gone over the plan a hundred times. Orion’s team will be in place. We confront her, let her talk just enough to get what we need, and then they swoop in. Clean. Controlled. No surprises.”

Mo lets out a soft laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Do you honestly think there’s a world where Aubrey doesn’t have some kind of surprise waiting for us?”

I don’t answer right away because, well, she’s right. Aubrey’s not a person who goes down without a fight. She’s too damn smart to not have a contingency plan. The plan might be solid, but that doesn’t mean I’m not bracing for things to go sideways.