The order was posted before dawn.
Not hidden.
Not delayed.
Stamped, sealed, and public.
Lyra read it once and felt the ground tilt beneath her feet.
Outer perimeter reassignment confirmed.
Joint oversight granted.
Duration: indefinite.
Indefinite was Ronan’s favorite word.
It means until something breaks.
Tyler stood beside her on the wall, the parchment between them fluttering in the wind like a warning flag. He didn’t touch it. He didn’t need to. He already knew every line.
“He wants us exposed,” Tyler said quietly.
“Yes,” Lyra replied. “But not gone.”
“Yet.”
Lyra folded the order carefully. “He wants distance without absence. Fear without disappearance.”
Tyler glanced at her. “And you volunteered.”
“I denied him isolation,” she corrected. “That matters.”
Tyler studied h
