Marcus crouched on the edge of a rooftop, watching the streets below. Teorin was leaving now, the professor trailing two steps behind him.

  They were running out of time. Maybe Isi was right. Maybe he should take them now.

  But he couldn’t. He just… couldn’t. Not here. Not now.

  If he grabbed Teorin now, Teorin would fight. And in the middle of all this? That wasn’t an option. Not with Sasha waiting for him to slip. But if he didn’t act soon, Teorin might be in just as much danger, just from someone else.

  Marcus followed from the rooftops, moving from vantage point to vantage point. He extended his wings slightly, not enough for full flight, just enough to clear the longer gaps.

  The streets weren’t empty, but they weren’t normal either. Too many people, moving too deliberately. Cutting off routes. Tightening the net. The searchers weren’t being subtle anymore. Too many lights. Too many pairs moving in staggered formation. They were closing in.

  Marcus adjusted his earpiece. “Isi.”

  Her voice crackled over the comm, “I see them.”

  She was tracking from the ground, moving in parallel—utterly unseen, the da Silvas’ luminance specialty at work. Invisibility, a technique the da Silvas guarded fiercely enough to kill for.

  Marcus kept Teorin in sight. A few minutes passed, but Teorin was doing a good job. Still… there were so many people.

  Marcus saw it at the same time Isi did.

  “They’re blocking the main exits,” Isi said.

  They were boxing Teorin in. No one else saw it, just him and Isi. Marcus adjusted his grip on the edge of the roof. His palms were damp, whether from the exertion or the guilt, he wasn’t sure.

  “I have a clean shot on two of them,” Isi murmured. “I could take them out. Cause a little chaos. Give them something else to chase.”

  Marcus gritted his teeth. No. That wasn’t the move. “Not yet,” he said. “They’re about to cut him off. He doesn’t see it yet. I need him on his toes.”

  Marcus pulsed—a pressure shift through the air, controlled and deliberate. A warning. Enough that Teorin would feel it. Enough that he’d know what it meant: Move. Now.

  Marcus stayed frozen, waiting. Watching. If Teorin hesitated, if he ignored the warning…

  He wouldn’t get another one. There was no time.

  ***

  Teorin stuck close behind Kara as they walked. It was a nice night. The spring air was just warm enough to go without a jacket. On another night, he might have enjoyed walking through the city and taking in the skyline.

  But not tonight.

  He was too on edge. Every shadow felt wrong. Every movement, a threat. He kept waiting for someone to jump out, for Marcus to appear on some rooftop behind them, but every time he glanced back? Nothing. Still, the feeling wouldn’t leave him.

  Talk. Focus. Stop looking over your shoulder. “So why does the university even have a tower in the first place?” Teorin asked, trying to fill the silence.

  “It’s the astronomy tower,” Kara said, not breaking stride. “There’s an observatory on top, and it’s above all the city lights, so you get a great view.”

  Teorin hesitated, then decided to push further. “Back at the ice cream parlor, you seemed worried about something.”

  “Well, I have plenty to worry about right now,” Kara muttered. “It’s not exactly a crime.”

  “No, it’s not. But it seemed like something about the pages.”

  Kara stopped walking. She turned. He couldn’t see her face in the dark corridor, just the faintest outline, completely unreadable.

  “Fine,” Kara said. “You want to know what I’m worried about?”

  Teorin braced himself.

  “That human figure I showed you?” Kara said. “It was a picture. Even you figured out what it meant after a minute, without any translation experience. And yet, Novem scanned all these pages in. There’s no way that went unnoticed. Someone saw it,” she continued, voice sharp. “That’s a huge discovery. Were you just going to keep that a secret?”

  Teorin froze. That was… an excellent point. Jeron hadn’t said a word about the human, and that wasn’t some minor detail. If Novem had scanned these pages, why hadn’t he mentioned it?

  Teorin swallowed. “I didn’t know,” he admitted. “What you told me was the first I’d heard about it, but maybe Jeron had a reason.”

  Or maybe Jeron didn’t know either, but that seemed unlikely.

  Kara didn’t answer. Just started walking again. Teorin followed, watching her silhouette against the dim city glow. Then, she spoke again, “When we find Jeron… what then? You just whisk me off to some secret location? Leave everyone to think I’m dead?”

  That question felt like a landmine. Teorin wasn’t sure what kind of answer she wanted. Sasha had seen them fly away. Kara couldn’t exactly go back to work. The Clans would be watching. Maybe others too. “From what Jeron told me—”

  He cut off. A tremor rippled the air. Pulsing. Nearby. Teorin held up a hand. “Shh.”

  Kara froze. The air stilled.

  The pulse had been faint but clear. It wasn’t just a shift in air currents. It was a signal, deliberate and precise. A message: Move now.

  His stomach twisted. The pulse was brief, but the shape of the pressure, the rhythm of it… it felt like his mom. His brothers. Familiar in the worst way.

  Marcus.

  But… why? Why warn him? Teorin waited, listening. Nothing. Just the night breeze cutting through the alley.

  “You felt a pulse?” Kara whispered.

  “Yeah. It was faint.”

  “Could it have been your brother?”

  Teorin hesitated. “Maybe.”

  It felt like him, but one pulse wasn’t enough to be sure. A few? Maybe. Pulsers had signatures—unique imprints, voices. But one pulse this subtle? Whoever sent it had control. Intent.

  That screamed Marcus.

  Teorin’s eyes scanned ahead. Nothing. It was dark, but even so…

  If the pulse had come from ahead, it meant whoever sent it threw a lot of power into it. Enough for it to reverberate through the corridor, and that meant they were close.

  The next intersection was about fifty yards away. Move. That was the message. But move where?

  “Wait here,” Teorin whispered.

  He jogged ahead, keeping close to the left wall. Shadows would hide him. The corridor opened up into a courtyard, and Teorin slowed as he approached the intersection.

  Light spilled ahead, brighter than expected. Teorin pressed himself against the wall, peering into the courtyard. Empty. He started to shift left—

  A beam of light swung across the path. Teorin froze.

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  The light had the telltale offshoots from fingers. That was definitely a Luminar, not a pulser. Someone was searching. The light passed in front of him again. Closer this time.

  Teorin’s heart pounded. Maybe it was a student, but that seemed unlikely. The courtyard had plenty of overhead lights. You didn’t need more, unless you were looking for something. Or someone.

  Teorin turned and sprinted back. Kara was still there, waiting, just a shadow at first. His vision was washed out from the courtyard lights, but as his eyes adjusted, her form sharpened.

  “Not that way.” Teorin’s voice was low, urgent. “Someone’s searching. Probably for us.”

  Kara hesitated. “Should we wait here?”

  “Is there another way to the tower?”

  “Yes. We’d have to go back the way we came and cut through this building,” Kara whispered, nodding to the stone structure on their left. “Otherwise, we go around and come at the tower from behind.”

  Teorin didn’t like the second option. Too much open space. Too many unknowns. At least in a building, they could hide.

  “The building,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  They started moving, but then, light slashed through the corridor. Someone had just turned the corner.

  Teorin dropped back instinctively, pressing himself against the rough stone wall. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He waited for shouts, running footsteps, anything to confirm they’d been spotted.

  Silence.

  Then footsteps came, deliberate and slow. Light swept across the walls. They were searching.

  Where was Kara? Teorin’s chest tightened. She had just been a few steps behind him. Had they spotted her? Had she moved?

  He forced himself to breathe, scanning the darkness—not with his eyes, but with a series of micro pulses. They rebounded back, painting the space in soft outlines. There. In an alleyway a little behind him.

  He crept toward the intersection, pressing one hand to the wall for balance. His vision hadn’t fully adjusted from the courtyard lights, but he strained to pick out Kara’s form. He edged forward and barely held in a yelp as a hand clamped onto his arm.

  A breath of air against his ear. “It’s me.” Kara’s voice.

  “Did you have to grab me like that?” Teorin hissed quietly.

  Her grip vanished. He still couldn’t see her, but he followed the movement, stepping into the alcove beside her. It was darker here, too dark. Even the moonlight didn’t reach them.

  He took a step further in. His foot collided with something hollow.

  Clang.

  Teorin froze. Kara swore under her breath. That was bad. Really bad.

  Footsteps pounded now. The searchers were closing in.

  Kara’s hand on his arm again. “Take off the backpack and mess up your hair,” she whispered urgently.

  “Why—”

  “No time,” Kara whispered, dragging him back.

  The footsteps were so loud now. Teorin barely got the backpack off before Kara yanked him again, pulling him flush against her.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered frantically.

  He froze. “Are you out of your—”

  “Teorin, now,” she hissed, panic leaking into her voice.

  Her arms slid around his neck, and she yanked him closer. His breath hitched. He didn’t understand, but he stopped resisting. Their lips met, and his hands automatically found her waist. The backpack dropped beside them.

  The light hit them full-on.

  Kara flinched, but she didn’t pull away. Teorin’s mind finally caught up. The way she’d pulled him to the back wall. The way her face stayed in shadow. The searchers could only see him, and without his jacket, hair a mess…he’d be almost unrecognizable. Just two students kissing in an alleyway.

  The kiss went on. Warm. Too warm. Teorin’s fingers tensed slightly against Kara’s waist. His heart sped up, not in panic, but something else entirely. This was fake. He knew that. She knew that. Then why did it feel like something else?

  He cursed internally. Stupid physical reaction. Not the time. Not the time.

  “Hey,” someone yelled.

  Teorin stiffened, then slowly pulled back, gulping in air greedily. How was he supposed to spin this? If they questioned him, if they came closer—

  It was Kara that spoke first. “Is everything all right, officer?” she called, voice steady.

  Normal. Just act normal. He turned, craning his neck to see the figures in the mouth of the alleyway. He felt Kara flinch back from the light that hit her as his body shifted. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes, and her features were thrown into shadow again.

  Two figures stood at the mouth of the alley. One stayed back, but the other—a woman—was illuminated by the beam of her partner’s light.

  Not students. Not security guards. Armed.

  Teorin’s breath caught. A stun pack holstered on her hip. Military grade. That would incapacitate anyone within ten feet. More alarming? The gun on her left hip. Not a stun weapon. A real gun. Technically illegal for civilians. Only the clans and government had those.

  If they came closer, if they saw through the act…

  Teorin tensed, waiting. If they attacked, would he even have time to do anything? It wasn’t like he could do much more than knock them off balance at this range.

  The searchers lingered. Too long. Teorin fought the urge to shift, to do anything that might make them look twice. A boot scraped against the pavement. The light wavered slightly.

  Then, finally, “There is a curfew tonight. No loitering on campus.”

  Kara’s grip on his neck slackened, but she didn’t exhale. Not yet. “Sorry, officer. We didn’t know. We’ll go somewhere else.”

  Another beat of silence.

  “Go back to your dorms.”

  The lights swung away, and darkness swallowed them again. The searchers continued down the corridor, muttering loudly about hormonal students.

  Kara collapsed against the wall, shaking. Teorin couldn’t see her face.

  “I’m sorry,” Kara whispered after a moment. “It was the only reason I could think of that we would be back here.”

  Teorin exhaled slowly. He realized his right hand was still on her waist. He released her and stepped back.

  It worked. It shouldn’t have, but it did. He forced himself to shrug before realizing that she wouldn’t see it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about what had just happened. “It worked. How did you know it would?”

  Kara took a deep breath. “I didn’t, but what they just saw isn’t exactly an uncommon sight in this alley. There are only two reasons to be here: either you’re us and are hiding, or you’re trying to get some privacy. We didn’t want them to think we were hiding, so it could only be the other reason.”

  It made sense. Too much sense. He never would have thought of it that way. Was that why she hadn’t hesitated? Because she knew this was something searchers expected to see?

  “Well,” Teorin muttered. “You might have just saved our lives. Those two were walking armories. I’m impressed you even thought of that.”

  “When your little brother is media catnip, allergic to planning, and convinced he’s invincible… you learn to improvise. Fast. And spin a story your way before someone else does.”

  Ah. That made sense.

  Kara’s hands began to glow, faintly illuminating her face.

  “Whoa.” Teorin blinked at her hands, then at her face. The glow flickered faintly, casting odd shadows across her features. “I thought you were a Memoran.”

  Kara glanced down and shrugged. “I have a very small amount of Luminar ability. It’s not uncommon for Memorans, but this is the best I can do,” she said, holding up her hands. It wasn’t much, barely enough to illuminate her face. More like a glowstick than a flashlight. It wouldn’t even have been visible in daylight.

  Teorin glanced back toward the corridor. “We should go before someone else decides to investigate this alley.”

  Kara nodded. She took a last deep breath, and the glow left her hands.

  “Leave them lit,” Teorin said, stooping to grab the backpack.

  “Why?”

  “Then they might at least suspect that we are Luminars.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she stiffened. “We supposedly like each other, right?”

  He braced for her to pull away, but instead, she stilled. “Right,” she said, her hands lighting up again.

  They started back down the alley. When they got near the front, Kara jerked him to the side. Teorin almost protested, but instead, he pulsed. Just enough to reveal the trash can. But if he still couldn’t see it…

  “How did you know that was there?” Teorin whispered.

  He felt Kara’s shrug this time. “I’ve been down this alleyway before. It has to do with kinetic memory. Sort of, anyway. I don’t have as much as Lev, but those abilities… let’s just say that knowing where you are in a space is often just as important as knowing what you physically need to do in that space.”

  They reached the mouth of the alleyway, and Kara pulled him to the left.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that I understand,” Teorin said under his breath. “But I’ll take your word for it. Still think we can make it through the building?”

  “If nothing else, we can lie low there until those searchers leave this area.”

  Good enough. They continued down the corridor in silence. Teorin kept waiting for the searchers to realize their mistake and come running back. They never did. He didn’t really feel like he could breathe again until they reached the end of the corridor.

  They continued to the left, and he dropped his arm from Kara’s waist. Every step felt louder than it should. Kara pulled out a key and fitted it into the lock.

  Teorin held his breath. The door clicked open. The glow from Kara’s hands slowly faded, and they slipped inside.

  ***

  Marcus collapsed against the edge of the rooftop. Too close. He sucked in a breath, his pulse still hammering in his ears. His night visor cast the scene in ghostly green hues, turning shadows into shifting specters. He’d seen it all: the lights flashing through the alley, Teorin frozen in place. The girl—Kara, right?—had moved first.

  She saved him. If she hadn’t—

  Marcus sucked in another sharp breath. Would he even have had time to stop it? A pressure wave might have thrown them off balance, but at that range, with real weapons? No. Not before they got a shot off.

  Not before Teorin went down.

  Did I make the wrong call?

  His jaw clenched. No. It didn’t matter now. The searchers were gone. Now Teorin just had to play it safe.

  Marcus tracked them through his visor, watching as they threaded their way back through the alley. Every instinct screamed to follow, to make sure they weren’t ambushed before reaching the tower. But he couldn’t. He’d already pushed his limits interfering this much.

  Isi’s voice crackled over comms. “So, I’m torn between laughing—because this feels almost like a telenovela, I mean, the drama!—or having a heart attack.”

  Marcus didn’t respond. He couldn’t. His hands were still curled into fists. His breathing was still too tight.

  “Marcus?” Isi’s tone shifted, teasing but searching. Checking.

  He exhaled. Forced the tension from his shoulders. Not the time to lose it.

  Isi’s voice drifted again. “Do I need to come resuscitate you? Did you actually have a heart attack? Because, hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you’re my type.”

  Before he could answer, Isi cut back in: “They’re in the building now. Teorin will be fine.”

  Another beat of silence.

  “I’m fine,” Marcus finally got out. He pushed himself upright, shaking off the last of the tension. “Let’s move. They’ll have to do the rest on their own.”

  Isi was silent for a few moments. “Are you sure you can do this?”

  No. It didn’t matter.

  “You say it like I have a choice.”

  Isi clicked her tongue. “You always have a choice, Marcus. If you want to walk away—right now—I won’t stop you. Won’t even question you. I get it.”

  He couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Because however much this hurt… walking away from Isi? That would hurt more.

  “No. I’ve got this.” He forced a smirk into his voice. “Let’s just make sure Sasha doesn’t kill anyone… or worse, improvise.”