The yard didn’t look the same when they got back.
It wasn’t the space.
It was the people.
Movement had tightened. Conversations cut shorter. Eyes lingered longer than they should.
Word had spread.
Not loud.
But fast.
Nyra stepped off the bike before it fully settled, her gaze already scanning not for Jace, but for the gaps he left behind.
Because absence always left a shape.
You just had to know how to see it.
Ronan didn’t slow.
“Where?” he asked as Kael approached.
Kael didn’t waste time.
“Back corridor. Last seen near the secondary storage.”
Nyra’s eyes shifted instantly toward the far side of the yard.
That wasn’t random.
That was controlled space.
Less traffic.
Fewer witnesses.
Better angles.
“They chose their ground,” she murmured.
Ronan didn’t argue.
“Show me.”
