Chapter 17. Rumors and Silence

The vibration started before dawn.

At first, it folded into the dream—something about the ring lights flashing, a crowd chanting somewhere behind her eyelids. Then the sound turned real, the phone rattling against the nightstand, dragging her into the half-gray dark.

Lia blinked hard, trying to remember what day it was. Her throat felt dry; the air smelled faintly of metal and cold rain leaking through the cracked window.

When she finally reached for the phone, light hit her face in a blade.

VALE & WILDCARD—“TRAINING” OR SOMETHING MORE?

She stared at the headline. The letters pulsed once, like the phone knew it had landed the blow.

She didn’t click at first. Her stomach already knew what waited underneath.

Then she swiped anyway, because pain demanded proof.

The photo loaded slow over weak Wi-Fi—grainy, yellow-lit.

Cassian’s hand on her shoulder. Her body leaning forward.

She remembered the moment—the second be