Liam didn’t speak right away.
He simply wrapped his arms tighter around Nova and waited.
The words she had just spoken, She’s alive, hung heavy in the air between them, like ash from a slow-burning fire.
They sat together in the quiet of the penthouse living room, the soft hum of the city bleeding through the glass walls. Cassia slept upstairs, oblivious to the shift in her mother’s world.
Finally, Nova pulled back.
“She was locked away, Liam. For years.”
“Where?”
“Vaughn Institute. Elira's own facility. She claims she helped her disappear... again.”
Liam’s brows furrowed. “Disappeared from what? Who was chasing her?”
Nova let out a breath. “My father. And possibly yours.”
The weight of that landed hard.
Liam stood and ran a hand through his hair, pacing.
“Cassian didn’t mentio
