…Time to face reality.”The words didn’t sit right with him.They felt… premature.Like something he said just to avoid thinking too hard about what came next.Eli stood there for a moment longer than necessary, the chip resting between his fingers, turning it once, then again, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular as Elara’s laughter—faint, distant—still echoed somewhere at the back of his mind. It didn’t belong here. Not in this space. Not in this silence.His jaw tightened slightly.Then he moved.The laptop slid open with a soft click, the sound unusually loud in the quiet of the room. He didn’t rush. If anything, his movements were slower than usual, controlled in a way that almost looked deliberate, like if he took his time, whatever waited inside that chip would somehow change.It didn’t.The moment it connected, the screen flickered once, then steadied.Leonhart’s voice came first.“…you’re approaching this incorrectly, Eli…”Eli leaned back slightly, one hand resting agains

The silence settle slowly, heavy, lingering, refusing to be lifted.Eli stood there for a moment longer, staring at her like the answer might rearrange itself if he just… waited long enough.It didn’t.Something in him gave way instead.It wasn't loud. Nor was it visible. Just enough.He exhaled. Then turned.The movement felt slower than it should have, like his body was moving through something thicker than air as he crossed the space and dropped onto the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped under his weight, grounding in a way nothing else had been able to.His hands came together loosely, elbows resting on his knees as his head dipped slightly.And for the first time since he walked into the room—He looked… tired.Not physically.Something deeper.Like the fight had been burning for too long without pause.And now—It was slipping.His breath left him in a quiet sigh.Then he leaned back slightly, turning his head just enough to look at her.His eyes—They weren’t cold anymore.

The flight back to New York felt longer than it was.Not necessarily because it was far or he had taken a different plane.But because silence stretched differently after bloodshed.The private jet cut through the clouds in near darkness, the low hum of the engines steady enough to blur into the background. Dim overhead lights cast faint shadows across the cabin, reflecting softly against the untouched glass of whiskey sitting near Eli’s hand.He hadn’t taken a sip.Outside the windows, nothing existed except endless black sky.Inside—Carlos sat across from him with a tablet balanced against one knee, several screens filled with surveillance reports, police intercepts, airport activity, digital sweeps.None of it mattered yet.No body.No confirmed transport route.No trace.Selene had vanished.Eli sat motionless near the window, one hand resting against his jaw while the other remained buried inside the pocket of his coat.Holding the tape.His thumb brushed against its edge slowly

The days that followed stopped feeling like days.They became fragments.Pieces stitched together by exhaustion, cold coffee, sleepless nights, and the constant sound of phones ringing across dark rooms.Eli barely noticed when one day ended and another began anymore.Sleep had become something distant.Unnecessary.Or maybe impossible.The penthouse stayed dim no matter the hour, rainstorms moving endlessly across New York as screens glowed through the darkness, surveillance feeds flickering against walls lined with open files and half-decoded data.Nova’s face was everywhere now.Security footage.Old photographs.Medical scans.Fragments of a girl who had vanished while carrying something powerful enough to destroy the world inside her head.And somehow—That wasn’t even the part keeping Eli awake.It was the realization that Selene had trusted Nova with it.Not him.Nova.His jaw tightened faintly at the thought as another encrypted file loaded slowly across the main screen.Nothi

Rain continued tapping softly against the windows long after the chaos settled.The storm outside had weakened into something quieter now, distant thunder rolling lazily across the city while warmth slowly returned to Nova’s room in uneven waves.Eli still couldn’t fully believe she was here.Alive.Not missing.Not captured and being tortured but the Circle.Actually here.Nova sat upright against the headboard now, blankets wrapped tightly around her while steam curled softly from the cup of hot chocolate resting between both hands.Her fingers still trembled faintly around it.But she was smiling.Small.Weak.Yet unmistakably Nova.“You can stop pacing now, Eli,” she said quietly, watching him move back and forth across the room for what had to be the hundredth time. “I’m not going to die on you.”Eli stopped immediately.Turned toward her.The look in his eyes made her smile fade slightly.Because exhaustion sat there now.Fear too.The kind he usually hid better than this.Slowl