Thorne POV
I found Kelly in her office long after the building had mostly emptied, the city lights spread out beyond the window, the specific quiet of an evening spent working instead of resting.
"You should be home," I said.
"So should you." She didn't look up from the file she was reading. "What did you find?"
I set the folder on her desk, the culmination of three days spent going through old contracts, old training rosters, old names I'd tried not to think about in years.
"His name's Cassian Voss," I said. "I trained him for eighteen months, back when I was still contracting privately, before Kael Group. Good instincts. Sharp. I remember thinking he'd make an excellent operative someday, if he ever found the right cause to point himself at."
"And?"
"And it seems he did find one. Just not the one I was hoping for." I sat across from her, the weight of my confession heavier than I anticipated when I finally voiced it.
