Their strange alliance had begun only a few months ago. It started the day Archie was discharged from rehabilitation, only to find he was still forbidden from going near Micah.
Not just warned. Banned. There were eyes on him at all times, Clyde's people. Silent, efficient, impossible to shake off. If Archie stepped too close to a certain street, someone would appear. If he lingered too long near a familiar café, a car would idle nearby. He was not threatened directly. He didn't need to be. The message was clear. Stay away.
For someone who had always moved freely, who had once believed he stood at the centre of everything, that kind of invisible cage was suffocating.
So Archie went looking for someone who might understand why he needed to see or to talk to Micah. He found Silas first.
When Silas stepped into Queen Hospital's lobby and saw Archie waiting there, unkempt, eyes bloodshot, and shoulders slumped, he didn't even need Archie to speak.
