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Then sighs.

“Paranoid.” Her brows pull together slightly. “Like genuinely scared all the time.”

Cold settles low in my stomach immediately.

“She kept talking about Severance Point like it was alive or something,” Mina continues softer now. “Like the city swallowed people whole if they stayed too long.”

Noir stills near the balcony.

Dagger’s jaw tightens visibly.

Mina notices both reactions immediately.

Silence settles heavily through the apartment after that.

Because suddenly every strange thing about Brynn before she died starts clicking together in horrible ways.

The locks and panic attacks.

The disappearing for days at a time.

The way she stopped sleeping properly.

I thought drugs made her unstable.

Now I’m realizing she was terrified.

My throat tightens painfully.

“She never told me any of that.”

“She probably thought she was protecting you.”

That somehow makes it worse.

Rain hammers harder against the windows while I stare down into my coffee trying not to spiral directly into an emotional breakdown in front of everybody.

Dagger eyes soften slightly just before his phone suddenly buzzes hard against the counter.

Everything changes instantly.

The softness disappears.

He checks the screen once.

Then immediately straightens.

“What?” Noir asks.

“One of the crew needs us at the warehouse. Said he’s got an update on Dante.”

Noir’s already standing before he finishes speaking.

“What happened?”

“Well obviously I don’t know yet since I’m still not at the warehouse you moron”

“But it’s bad.”