Chapter Twenty-Five: The Warning and the Stranger at the Table
The wind had picked up outside, brushing loose leaves across the ground like whispers that never stayed.
Isabelle just was inside the front door, one hand on the knob, the other gripped her phone tighter than necessary.
Simon was standing under a streetlamp, with his hands deep in his coat pockets.
He looked less dangerous tonight and more tired, more like a boy who had lived in too many struggles.
"You're just telling me this now?" Isabelle asked, keeping her voice calm even though her insides were raging with fear. "That there's footage of Reign near the river… before they found my sister?"
Simon didn't flinch. "Because I needed to be sure. And now I am."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why should I trust you?"
Simon didn't answer right away. He stepped forward, slowly and carefully, as if afraid he might scare her. Or maybe afraid of what she might say next.
