The suite overlooked the city like a chess player over a board.
Lucien stood by the tall window of the Grand Arcanis Hotel, still dressed from the meeting. His tie had been loosened, but not removed. His cuffs still buttoned.
He stared at the skyline, wine glass in hand—untouched.
He didn't drink when he was calculating.
And now, he was calculating.
Not strategy. Not market share. Not alliances.
Memory.
His.
Not theirs.
Edgar hadn't flinched. Hadn't hinted. His eyes were sharp, his posture still military—but there had been no recognition.
Not yet.
And Lyra—her gaze was alert, yes. But only professionally.
She didn't remember the fire.
Didn't remember the blade.
Didn't remember the kiss she gave before betrayal.
Lucien turned from the window.
His voice was soft, as if speaking to no one. Or perhaps only to ghosts.
"They've forgotten."
He set the glass down.
"I'll wait."
Lyra was folding a cotton blouse when it happened.
Her hands smoothed the sleeve, rolled it in toward the center.
And for a split second—
Blood.
Not real.
Not visible.
But her palms tingled.
Her fingers flexed before she knew why.
A flash of—
Stone.
A corridor.
A ring falling to the floor.
The sound of footsteps, running.
She blinked.
The blouse slipped from her hands.
She stood very still.
The room didn't change.
But something in her did.
She pressed her palm to her chest.
Her heart was beating faster than it should have been.
"Just stress," she murmured to herself.
But even she didn't believe it.
Edgar stood at the window, tablet in one hand, the skyline burned into the glass.
He wasn't reading anymore.
His eyes caught the reflection of his own face—and for a heartbeat—
It wasn't this face.
It was scarred.
Older.
Tired in a different way.
A flash of armor.
A metal gauntlet gripping someone's arm.
A woman screaming in a language he didn't recognize.
And then—silence.
He blinked. The glass became just glass again.
His jaw flexed once.
He told himself it was the wine. The stress. Lucien's arrival.
But the back of his mind whispered:
You've felt this before.
You knew him before.
And you knew her.
He turned away from the window.
And did not look back.