Sage’s POV
The night in the city had that particular color only known to those who’ve run through shadows.
Steel gray. Neon blue. Threat red.
From the window of Selene’s apartment, the lights flickered like eyes that never blinked. And still, everything was silent. The kind of silence that doesn’t soothe—but prepares.
Zack was lying beside me. Or trying to.
His breathing was slow, controlled… but not relaxed. I knew him too well. I could tell when he was resting and when he was only pretending—like a wolf who sleeps with one ear open, out of habit and necessity.
We’d laid on the spare mattress in the apartment, one Selene had ordered in after the last op. Clean sheets. Dim lighting. But everything felt too temporary. A cave—not a refuge.
The photographs were scattered across the low
