The car carried us through the sleeping city. Past darkened storefronts and empty sidewalks. Past the Academy where our strange story had begun. Past the corner where two gangsters had shot me in the chest and inadvertently triggered the awakening of a consciousness that should have stayed buried forever.
Natalia's head rested on my shoulder. Her breathing had slowed. Steadied. The rage had burned itself out, leaving behind something softer. Something that felt dangerously close to vulnerability.
"What did she tell you?" Natalia asked quietly. "About your father?"
"That he found something. Something connected to whatever caused the Rupture." I stared out the window at the passing streets. "Something that scared the VHC enough to erase him from existence. And something that's attracted the attention of forces that make Seraphina Vance look like a minor inconvenience."
"That's terrifying."
"Yeah."
"What are you going to do about it?"
