The rain didn’t wash away the smell of the burning mansion. It only made it heavier, a thick, greasy stench of melting silk and charred dreams that clung to Nala’s skin. Behind her, the screams from the bedroom had been swallowed by the roar of the collapsing roof. She didn't know if Androniko or Leo had made it out, and for the first time in her life, she didn't care. She was running toward the gate, toward the promise of breath, only to find a new kind of vacuum waiting for her.
The woman in the grey suit stood perfectly still, her heels digging into the gravel. She didn't flinch as a secondary explosion rocked the ground, sending a plume of orange sparks into the black sky.
"You're shaking, Nala," the woman said. It wasn't a sympathetic observation. It was a cold statement of fact, li
