Zane climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. Clara, after a moment of indecision, slipped into the back seat instead of sitting up front. Serein hesitated briefly before squeezing in beside her best friend.
Zane said nothing. His gaze flicked toward Serein through the rearview mirror, cold and detached, then drifted back to the road ahead.
The Eclipse convoy trailed behind them in silence, one vehicle after another pulling away from the dim, chaotic streets of Taurus, leaving the acrid stench of smoke and ruin behind.
Neither Zane nor Serein spoke. The silence between them was heavy enough that Clara's presence felt like the only thing preventing it from collapsing in on itself.
"But seriously," Clara began, unable to restrain her curiosity, "how did Maledictus's entire headquarters just vanish like that? Not a trace left behind."
Serein shook her head slowly. Truth be told, she still hadn't fully processed everything that had just happened.
