"You want to stay in this world?" Leon asked.
"Then you have to stop flinching when it looks back at you."
⸻
The training didn't start with weapons.
It started with eyes.
Reading people. Spotting lies. Walking like she owned a room—even if her heart trembled underneath.
Leon didn't coddle her.
He watched. Tested. Pushed.
But never once did he doubt her.
⸻
Days turned into a blur of lessons.
How to track a car.
How to tell when someone was armed.
How to aim a gun with hands that wouldn't stop shaking.
She missed. She cursed. She got better.
⸻
"You're not the girl I met," Leon said one night, handing her a glass of water after training.
"I don't want to be her anymore."
He tilted his head. "Who do you want to be?"
Ayla looked him straight in the eye.
"Someone no one can use to get to you."