The afternoon sun slanted through the windows of the secluded house, casting golden stripes across the wooden floor. Everything inside was too still, too quiet—until the silence broke with the sharp trill of the wall phone.
Xander, chewing a cookie he found in the kitchen, raised a brow. “Wanna bet it’s the warden checking in?”
Kyson answered the phone with a grunt, his voice clipped. “Yeah?”
A familiar, dry voice crackled on the other end.
“Tell me you haven’t killed each other yet.”
Kyson exhaled. “Not yet.”
“Progress. I expected blood.” Maverick’s tone was sarcastic, but there was an edge beneath it. “Listen up, all three of you.”
He waited until Lyra and Xander had wandered closer, drawn by the sound of his voice.
“This isn’t punishment. It’s a reset. You’re too tangled up in y
