Maya’s POV
Caroline Henderson sat beside me, her face half-shadowed by the fading sunset. The air in Riverside Park carried that metallic chill of autumn, sharp and clean, but all I could feel was unease tightening in my chest.
The name Henderson rang through me like a warning siren.
“You’re one of them,” I said carefully, keeping my hand close to my coat pocket where my phone was recording. “One of the families.”
Her eyes lifted to mine, calm and steady. “I was born one of them. That doesn’t mean I belong to them anymore.”
“Then why are you here?”
Caroline’s gaze moved to the water, where the river caught the last slant of gold light. “Because the man you love is walking straight into a death trap. And if you don’t act now, Margaret will hand him to my father.”
My heart kicked hard
