Teorin sat in a console room, searching for whatever answers he could find. They’d searched the building. Kara was nowhere to be found. Heidi was taking care of Lev now. She’d chewed him out first, though. The words still echoed in his head.

  “You moved him?” Heidi’s voice had cracked up half an octave. “Burns that deep need stabilization before movement. You’re lucky he didn’t go into cardiac arrest halfway down those stairs.”

  He’d explained about the people outside and the militarized weapons he’d seen in the alleyway. Her glare hadn’t lessened, but in the end she’d sighed and said, “I guess you didn’t have much choice. Just, next time, watch your patient for shock before he collapses.”

  The conversation had made him rethink Lev all over again. Apparently, he shouldn’t even have made it down the stairs. But he was an athlete, and even if his persona came off as easy charm, maybe Teorin should have expected that kind of quiet grit. Lev had probably trained to push through, even when he shouldn’t.

  Heidi was treating Lev now, and with nothing to do, he’d come here. They’d found someone to access the security footage, but everything from last night was missing. With no real leads, Teorin started working backward from the data he did have.

  Which basically meant Marcus.

  The thing was, Marcus was almost impossible to track. Teorin had tried before, just to get answers, but he hadn’t had any luck. Lying low was Marcus’ specialty. His girlfriend, however, was a different story. Isi was a da Silva heiress, and both her surnames drew attention. With ties to Novem and a major clan, she was someone worth watching.

  So, now he was wading through page after page of information on Dionira Isabela Rafinin da Silva. Novem’s file suggested her relationship with her uncle was strained, limiting her access to Novem intel. But after digging through Trevor’s things, Teorin doubted that. The tension felt staged, maybe a way to dodge surveillance from both sides.

  He’d pulled Isi’s file before, but he’d never really read it. Not like this. He’d known her parents had died, but she’d been so young, just eight at the time of the crash. After that, she’d lived with her aunt most of the year and spent summers with Trevor until she was an adult.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  That part Teorin had known. It was basically how he’d met her, a summer that seemed like forever ago. Isi had been thirteen. Teorin was seven. She’d spent that summer with Trevor. He’d been busy and working with Dad, so Trevor had sent her to Mom. To them.

  She’d mostly hung out with Marcus and Raph, but Teorin remembered the pranks she’d pulled with her invisibility.

  A knock on the doorframe pulled Teorin’s attention up. Jeron.

  “Yes?”

  Jeron stepped in, eyes scanning the page on Teorin’s screen. “What’s this?” he asked sharply.

  Teorin stiffened. “Marcus was here. Which means there’s a good chance Isi’s involved too.”

  Jeron stared at the screen, then let out a long breath. “I know you want to find Kara, but you have to leave Isi alone.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if the da Silva Clan even suspects we’re targeting one of their elite members, they’ll do everything they can to block us. They control huge swaths of Torolt, and we might need to dig on their land. It’s not clear yet where that plant will lead.”

  Teorin frowned. “If Isi’s involved, don’t they already have reason to block us?”

  “Reason, yes. Leverage, no. Right now, we can legally excavate any Torolt site tied to public security—even if it’s da Silva land. But if we go after one of them without solid proof, they could accuse us of resource abuse. That could delay or even block our work, especially if they rally public support. We can’t afford a legal war right now. Understand?”

  Teorin clenched his jaw. Logic didn’t make it easier to swallow. He nodded slowly.

  “You cannot use Novem’s resources to look for Isi da Silva. Understood?” Jeron’s voice cut like a father swatting a child’s hand from a flame, not cruel, just certain.

  “I get it,” Teorin said bitterly.

  Jeron sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Then, softer, “I’m sorry. I know you hoped this would lead somewhere, but we just can’t risk it right now. We’ll find Kara another way.”

  “Right,” Teorin murmured.

  Jeron frowned, then pushed ahead. “We’ll take Lev with us to Crisuma. We can’t leave him here. I’ll handle the arrangements with Heidi; we leave in under an hour.”

  Teorin nodded again, watching Jeron walk off. Then he turned back to the console and let himself breathe, head in his hands.

  Every step he took lately seemed to be the wrong one.

  Jeron had a point. That didn’t make the shutdown sting any less. He stared back up at the screen. Isi had been his last real idea for finding Kara. Now he had nothing.

  He could follow orders. Leave it alone. But every lead kept disappearing, and Isi was the closest thing to a thread. Maybe he just needed evidence. Something solid. Then Jeron would have to listen.