Nyra woke up before the house did.
It wasn't instinct there were no sirens, no footsteps outside, no engines humming too close. It was habit. Her eyes opened to silence, and for a second her body tensed, confused by the absence of danger.
The couch was too soft. The blanket smelled like detergent and something floral. Not smoke. Not oil. Not the city.
She sat up slowly, her shoulder protesting, and scanned the room like it might betray her. Nothing moved. No shadows out of place. Just a mansion pretending to be asleep.
"Still don't trust it," she muttered.
She slipped off the couch and padded toward the kitchen, barefoot, hoodie hanging loose on her frame. The floor was cold. The space was huge. Everything echoed just enough to remind her she didn't belong here.
She found coffee real coffee, not the bitter kind she drank to survive nights and poured herself a cup like she was defusing a bomb.
"Could've waited," Elias said behind her.
She didn't flinch. That alone surprised her.
"Couldn't sleep," she replied. "Your house is too quiet."
He smiled, leaning against the counter. Hair messy. No suit. No expectations. Just Elias.
"Doctor says you should rest," he added gently.
Nyra took a slow sip. "Doctor doesn't know me."
"Unfortunately, I do."
She shot him a look. "You about to rehab me now?"
He raised his hands in surrender. "Just saying… you smoke too much."
She laughed, sharp and brief. "You sound like everyone who's never lived in my head."
Elias didn't push. He never did. "Just… try not to disappear on me, yeah?"
That gave her pause.
She nodded once. "I'll try."
Later, as the house woke up soft footsteps, quiet voices, the smell of breakfast drifting in Nyra sat by the window again. City in the distance. Eastside out of reach. For the first time since the bullet, her mind wasn't racing.
That scared her more than the chaos ever had.
Her phone buzzed.
One message. Unknown number.
You're safe. I'm handling it. S
She exhaled slowly, fingers tightening around the phone.
Shark was tightening the city. Elias was sheltering her without questions. ValeTech waited somewhere in between, unaware that one of its sharpest minds was temporarily off the board.
Nyra smiled faintly.
Everyone thought they were protecting her.
They didn't know yet.
This quiet?
This pause?
It wasn't weakness.
It was reload.