Chapter 1: A Collision of Secrets
Rain tapped against the hospital windows like a restless warning.
Mira Solene tightened her grip around her camera bag, blood soaking through the sleeve of her beige trench coat. Not hers. The witness she'd tried to protect hadn't made it, and now, every step she took down the sterile corridor echoed with guilt.
She hated hospitals. The silence. The smell. The memories.
A sharp turn—
A hard chest.
She stumbled back.
"Whoa—careful."
A deep voice. Steady. Controlled.
Mira looked up, meeting a pair of storm-gray eyes. The man before her looked like a ghost in disguise—too calm for a place like this, too observant for a stranger. Black hoodie, hands in pockets, barely noticeable to the world. But to her, he screamed danger.
"Sorry," she muttered, brushing past.
But his eyes lingered on the blood on her sleeve.
"You're hurt?" he asked, gaze sharp.
"I'm fine." She didn't stop walking.
Neither did he—his eyes followed her in the reflection of the glass doors.
Cyan Merin had seen panic before. Had caused it. But hers was different—tinged with purpose, not fear. She was no ordinary woman.
He reached into his pocket and touched the small earpiece.
"Target's not alone," he whispered. "We've got a new variable."
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