Riviera Hotel – 7:42 A.M.
The city outside had begun to rouse from the storm’s grip, though dawn looked more like a bruise than a sunrise. Grey light seeped through the curtains of the hotel suite, painting Selene in muted tones. She hadn’t moved from the sofa since Cassien knelt before her hours ago. Sleep was foreign now like a language her body had forgotten.
The folder still sat between them on the low table, its scorched edges curling inward as if trying to devour its secrets. Selene couldn’t look at it without feeling her pulse shift, as though something inside the brittle pages wanted to climb out and burrow into her chest.
Cassien paced by the window, phone in hand, though he hadn’t dialed a number or typed a word. He kept looking down at the device, locking it, and unlocking it
