Chapter Twenty Six
Valentina finally called on a Wednesday, nearly a week after her promise in the hallway, asking Rafael and Amara to come to her townhouse without Kael, something in her voice heavy enough over the phone that Rafael cancelled three meetings without a second thought.
But before that conversation could happen, before whatever Valentina knew could reshape everything they thought they understood, an ordinary Tuesday evening got in the way first — one of those small, unplanned moments that ended up mattering more than either of them expected.
It started with Kael’s science project, a solar system model he had been putting together on the kitchen table for the better part of a week, styrofoam planets in various stages of completion scattered across newspaper Amara had laid d
