SERAPHINA’S POV
The silence that followed my warning was absolute.
No one moved. No one reached for a weapon or a door latch or a comm.
They just stared at me—Gear through the rearview mirror, Wren frozen mid-breath, Codex’s fingers hovering above his tablet, Iris standing rigid between the front seats like a carved figure.
Their skepticism didn’t bristle with hostility or the careless dismissal I’d come to expect. Instead, it was careful, deliberate, as if they were weighing me on invisible scales.
And I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t explain what was happening.
Not in any way that would satisfy soldiers trained to trust data and experience over ‘hunches.’
Alois might have mentioned my journey, but I doubt he told them about the Origin Archives and the Starlight Hallway.
