The other Anna found them.
Not with soldiers.
Not with sirens.
With a knock.
It came just after dusk, when the city’s curfew siren had finished its slow, suffocating song and the streets outside the abandoned apartment fell into enforced stillness. Anna had been sitting on the floor beside Lexus, her back against the couch, counting his breaths as his body fought through the aftershocks of the marking.
One.
Two.
Three.
The knock landed between breaths four and five.
Three measured taps.
Human.
Anna froze.
Lexus’s eyes opened instantly, pupils sharpening despite the pain that still webbed through his chest. His hand lifted—not to reach for a weapon, but to signal stillness.
The knock came again.
Anna stood slowly, heart hammering. She didn’t need the crystal to know who it was
