sey

me, sparking reflexes fast

d. I snatched the passport out from under his heavy pal

cuments I had prepared weeks ago-birth certificate, b

e a shield, backing away until

brow furrowed, a storm of genuine bewilderment cloudi

ang out with the clarity of a bell. "The moment you marked her, you seve

ng the desk with predatory speed. "Yo

rrected him, reclaiming th

Power of Attorney I had signed five years ago, the legal shackle that gave him control ove

ting the light ca

sked, his steps faltering

lf. The sound was sharp, violent in the quiet of

the pieces flutter to t

ly calm. "You don't have access to a single cent, Bennett.

im ashen. "You... you spiteful bitch. That

bout that before you replaced your fi

impending violence, but before he co

a! Al

stomach, her face slick with sweat and tears. "It hu

hat had been directed at me evaporated instan

two strides and scooping her up as if she wer

face in the crook of his neck, her sce

-an expression he had never, not once, worn for me. "I'm

dling her against his ches

bout the stolen money or the passport in my hand. His entire universe

ost. I was

ence of his wake, watching his retrea

The final c

ef, but it didn't come. Inste

all, and out the front door of the Pac

y as I pulled out the burner phone I'd bought with cas

ansport," a gruf

'm ready. Pick me up at the

y th

hadow of the treeline. While I waited, I indulged in one la

mere minutes ago in the hospital wing. He was hol

future. The Pack is bles

were already flooding i

so bea

y, a tru

ays a shadow. Ar

real-time, erasing five years o

d the back open, took the SIM c

ravel. The window rolled down, revealing a man with

asked, his

" I con

ay, I didn't look back at the Pack House. I d

rough my bones. I imagined the Seine. I imagined a studio

a crater-empty, b

me in years, the emp

id down my cheek

ye, Be

ever known. And as the distance grew, the crushing weight in my ches

as