Chapter 8: Between the Lies
The air inside the old train station was thick with dust and tension. Mira waited, back pressed to the cold pillar, heart racing. She had messaged Cyan—one sentence.
"No more running."
Cyan arrived minutes later, soaked from the rain, eyes already searching.
"I trusted you," she said, stepping into the light. "And you handed me lies wrapped in silence."
"I didn't lie," he replied. "I just didn't want the truth to break you."
Mira held out the USB. "Then what's this? Your name. Emberlight. That woman. You were part of it all."
He stepped closer, slowly. "I was. But I didn't know they'd target you. I didn't expect to care this much."
The silence stretched between them, heavy with everything unsaid.
> "You can't protect me by lying to me," she whispered. "That's not protection. That's control."
A sudden clang echoed behind them. Footsteps. Not theirs.
Cyan turned, his hand instinctively reaching inside his coat.
"Too late," a voice called from the shadows. "She knows everything."
Mira's breath hitched.
They weren't alone anymore.
And the secrets they thought they could bury?
They were already awake.