Two Months Later
The room felt colder than usual.
Maybe it was the rain outside. Or maybe it was the silence that had been building every day since they vanished.
Lucy stood in the center of the office, arms crossed, gaze sharp. Her dark eyes didn't blink as they pinned Garos to his chair like a blade to the throat.
"They're still not back," she said quietly.
Garos rubbed the side of his temple, his face tired—older than usual. "Yes," he muttered. "I know."
"You said you'd find them."
Garos dropped his hand and looked up at her, the patience in his eyes already worn thin. "Miss Lucy, we are doing everything we can. I've got scouts searching every known gate site, every trace of spatial distortion, every hidden channel."
Lucy said nothing.
Garos continued, voice harder now. "And if you haven't heard the news, my daughter—Vyn—is missing too. So don't stand there like you're the only one who's lost something."
Lucy's eyes twitched, but she didn't interrupt.
