“We weren’t supposed to kill you.”
Adam’s eyes narrow.
“Then why were you here?”
The man looks directly at me.
“The Architect wants you alive.”
The wind pushes through the trees again.
Cold.
Restless.
Adam and Russ exchange a look.
Mara goes very still beside me.
I study the man carefully.
“Who is the Architect?”
His jaw tightens.
“I don’t know.”
Adam stands slowly.
“That’s the wrong answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
Russ grabs the man’s shoulder and shoves him toward the truck.
“Good news,” Russ says.
“You’ve got plenty of time to remember.”
The man stumbles forward.
Mara watches the captured attacker with a troubled expression.
I glance at her.
“You look like you already knew that name.”
She doesn’t answer right away.
Then she says quietly—
“Yes.”
I turn fully toward her.
“Start talking.”
Her eyes move across the dark church parking lot.
