The room was silent.
The kind of silence that felt too still, too heavy like time itself had paused to listen.
Lilith didn't move.
She stood like a shadow carved from marble, her back chilled by the wall behind her, her face unreadable in the dim glow of the desk lamp.
"I asked you something," Lilith said again, softer this time yet sharper, like a slow knife sliding beneath the skin.
He flinched.
Something in his eyes shifted, as if the mask cracked. His pupils seemed to lose their sharpness… softening like fog touching glass. And then, suddenly, he wasn't him anymore.
It was Ray.
His gaze found hers instantly, like he'd been searching for her through fog. "Miss Mystery?" he breathed, voice trembling, soaked in a kind of relief that felt like pain. His eyes were wide, almost too bright, like he hadn't seen her in years. Maybe, in his world, he hadn't.
Lilith's hands curled slightly at her sides. Her throat tightened.
And Ray saw it.
