The drive to Talia's apartment took eleven minutes that felt like an hour, Kieran's hands white knuckled on the wheel, silent in a way that scared Noa more than any amount of shouting could have. She'd never seen him like this, stripped of the careful control that seemed to define every other version of him she'd encountered, replaced by something raw and desperate that made him look, for the first time, entirely human and entirely terrified.
"She checks in every night," he said, more to himself than to Noa, eyes fixed on the road. "Every night since she was seventeen. It's not negotiable, not optional, she knows what it means if she goes dark and doesn't tell me first."
"Maybe her phone just died," Noa offered, though even she didn't believe it, could hear how hollow the reassurance sou
