The days following the rescue settled into a quiet rhythm.
Aria woke each morning to the same pattern, checking on Wren, checking on Mira, reviewing intelligence with Xavier. The network was gone, but its shadow lingered. Someone was out there, rebuilding, planning.
We need to find them, she thought. Before they can rebuild.
She found Xavier in his study, maps spread across his desk, his expression carrying the particular focus of someone who'd been working through the night.
"Any new intelligence?" she asked.
"Some," he said. "Marrow's network identified a pattern of communications that suggest the network is regrouping. Someone is coordinating the remnants."
She crossed to him, her hand finding his. "Do we know who?"
"Not yet," Xavier said. "But the pattern suggests someone with s
