Elena woke before the sun.
The room was wrapped in early morning stillness, the kind that came just before the sky began to blush with light. Liam lay beside her, arm draped over her waist, breath even. For once, he looked peaceful.
But that didn't mean she was.
She slipped out of bed quietly, the floor cool under her feet. The lake outside glistened under a pale violet sky. Everything looked calm. Safe.
But it wasn't.
She hadn't slept much—not really. Her mind kept replaying the grainy photos, the Black Reef tags, the old file marked with Liam's name. She trusted him more than she trusted most people on the planet. But that didn't mean she knew him. Not fully. And Cassian Voss… he was the piece Liam hadn't seen coming. The ghost that didn't stay buried.
She made coffee, her hands steady out of habit. She stirred in cinnamon—not because Liam liked it, but because Miri did. Then she poured herself a mug and stepped out onto the porch.
Miri was already there, seated cross-legged on the wooden steps, sketchpad in her lap. She was drawing quietly, her pencil moving in practiced strokes. She didn't look up.
"I didn't hear you come out," Elena said softly.
"You were too loud in your head."
Elena blinked. "What?"
Miri shrugged. "Sometimes you get really quiet when you're thinking too hard. It's louder than talking."
Elena sat beside her. The girl's eyes stayed fixed on the page, her pencil looping into a spiral of rain and shadow.
"What are you drawing?"
"Something I dreamed." Miri flipped the page. "It was cold. A man was standing outside the cabin. Watching. But not moving. He had a coat like Liam's… but he didn't feel like Liam."
Elena's throat tightened. "Did you see his face?"
"No," Miri whispered. "But I think he smiled."
Elena forced her voice to stay calm. "Did you tell Liam?"
Miri shook her head. "He's already worried. I didn't want to add to it."
Elena reached over and gently touched the girl's hair. "You're not a burden, Miri."
"I know. But sometimes it's easier when grown-ups think everything's okay."
Elena didn't answer. Because there was truth in that, and she didn't want to lie.
Instead, she said, "If you see him again—dream or not—you tell me. Promise?"
Miri nodded.
Then, without looking up, she asked, "Do you think he's like Liam?"
Elena hesitated. "Cassian?"
The girl didn't speak. She didn't need to.
Elena answered anyway. "No. Liam's trying to build something. Cassian only knows how to tear things down."
Miri stared at the horizon. "Then we better build fast."
Later that morning, while Liam was chopping wood near the edge of the treeline, Elena stepped back into the house. She wasn't looking for anything—at least, that's what she told herself.
But when she passed Miri's sketchpad left on the couch, something stopped her.
She opened it.
There, halfway through, was a new drawing. Different from the others.
A man in a dark coat standing under a tree. His head was tilted slightly, hands in his pockets. But the detail wasn't in the man—it was in the background.
Their cabin.
A perfect match—down to the wreath on the porch railing and the slanted tin roof.
She flipped to the next page.
Same man. Closer now. Behind the fence.
No face. Just presence.
Elena felt her stomach twist. Not fear exactly. But something close. Something instinctual.
She took the notebook outside.
Liam looked up as she approached.
"You didn't tell me she saw someone."
He set the axe down slowly. "She mentioned a dream."
"Not just a dream," Elena said, opening the sketchpad. "She's drawing him. In detail."
He studied the image. His mouth tightened.
"Do you think it's real?"
"She never forgets anything she sees. You know that."
He nodded, jaw tight. "Then we've been compromised."
Elena crossed her arms. "You think Cassian's already watching?"
"I think he's always watching. He's patient. The kind of patient that doesn't strike until he knows exactly where to cut."
"Then why hasn't he?"
"Because he doesn't want us dead. Not yet."
Elena closed the sketchpad and lowered her voice. "Then what does he want?"
Liam's eyes met hers. Steady. Haunted.
"He wants to see if we'll break ourselves before he has to."
That night, Liam installed two additional perimeter sensors and a signal jammer disguised in a solar lamp. Elena pretended not to notice the loaded weapon tucked beneath his pillow.
Miri slept between them.
Her hand curled around Elena's. Her breath slow and even.
Elena didn't sleep.
Her mind raced with questions. What did Cassian want with Miri? What did he see in her? Why now?
And most terrifying of all—
How long had he already been watching?