The first hour after the Spire was a blur of adrenaline and exhaustion. The team had scattered through the packing plant like shrapnel, each of them finding a corner to collapse into while the adrenaline bled out of their systems. Axel was asleep at his terminal, his head resting on his folded arms, the Caravan's route still glowing on the screen behind him. Vance sat with his back against the wall, his brother's file open in his lap, his eyes fixed on a photograph he'd been staring at for nine years. Troy and Isla were curled up on a pile of blankets in the corner, the girl's injured ankle propped on a duffel bag, the boy's dark eyes still open and watchful even in sleep.
Nyla couldn't rest.
She stood at the window of the packing plant, looking out at the grey dawn that was bleeding thr
