No, it was not too late.
If Serein turned her back now, if she fled as though she had never stepped into the lives of that mother and son, she could still escape.
Her feet shifted backward, torn between the instinct to run as she always had, and the gnawing ache of guilt at the thought of abandoning Kai and his mother to a danger she had dragged into their lives.
"I don't know what you're talking about. What Guide?" Kai's voice rang from inside, stubborn and unyielding, chaining Serein in place.
From within the diner, pressure leaked out, the heavy weight of levo, no more than rank B.
But strangely, Serein could not feel any levo from Kai at all. They had connected before; if he released his power, she would have sensed it instantly.
Why was he not fighting back?
"You brat! Tell us now or I'll kill both you and your mother!" The threatening roar thundered through the air, cracking inside her skull like claps of lightning.
