Lyra didn’t answer right away.
She only stared at Seraphine.
Then she looked at the small screen in Cassian’s hand.
The name EDMUND VESPER was still displayed there.
The leader of Astra.
Her own grandfather.
“So...” Lyra’s voice trembled. “All of this was done by my family?”
Seraphine shook her head.
“Not all of it.”
“But Grandfather leads the organization that wants to erase my memories.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad fought against it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Grandfather say he wanted to take me home?”
Seraphine didn’t answer.
Lyra let out a small laugh.
It sounded more like despair.
“Of course.”
She backed away several steps.
“Everyone’s been lying.”
Cassian approached.
“Lyra.”
“Don’t.”
She raised a hand.
“I don’t want to hear anyone say they did all this to protect me.”
Cassian stopped.
Lyra looked at Seraphine.
“Mom knew?”
“I knew about Astra.”
“Since when?”
“Since before you were born.”
“And you still let me grow up knowing nothing?”
Seraphine lowered her head.
“I wanted you to have a life.”
Lyra shook her head.
“Everyone says the same thing.”
She gripped the necklace around her neck.
“Everyone says they’re protecting me. But it turns out my life was planned from the moment I was born.”
Cassian looked at her.
“You still have a choice.”
Lyra turned toward him.
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
“Then I choose to know everything.”
Cassian nodded.
“All right.”
Suddenly, an explosion thundered overhead.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Seraphine flinched.
“They’re inside.”
Cassian drew his weapon.
“We have to go. Now.”
He opened a small door at the back of the room.
A dark passage stretched beneath the ground.
Lyra stared into it.
“Where does it lead?”
“Outside.”
They ran.
Footsteps echoed behind them.
Drawing closer.
Cassian brought up the rear.
Seraphine was in the middle.
Lyra was in front.
“Don’t stop!” Cassian shouted.
They kept running until they reached an iron door.
Cassian opened it.
Sunlight immediately blinded Lyra.
They emerged into a small valley.
A highway lay in the distance.
An old car was waiting.
Cassian opened the door.
“Get in.”
Lyra climbed in with Seraphine.
Cassian took the driver’s seat.
The car pulled away.
For several minutes, they were silent.
Lyra stared out the window.
Her mind was crowded with questions.
Then she asked,
“Where are we going?”
Cassian answered,
“To the city.”
“What city?”
“Vesper.”
Lyra turned toward him.
“Vesper is my family name.”
“And the name of the city where your family lives.”
Lyra frowned.
“My family owns that city?”
“Unofficially.”
“How can one family own a city?”
Cassian kept his eyes on the road.
“When your family controls nearly every major company in the region, they don’t need to officially own the city.”
Lyra fell silent.
All this time, she’d thought she came from an ordinary family.
It turned out the blood flowing through her veins came from an immensely powerful family.
But that power had brought danger with it.
Two hours later, they reached the outskirts of the city.
Lyra watched as tall buildings began to appear.
The constellation-shaped logo of a company was displayed in several places.
Lyra recognized the symbol.
“Astra.”
Cassian nodded.
“That’s a company?”
“The company that serves as the Vesper family’s official face.”
“And there’s an organization behind it?”
“Yes.”
Lyra looked at the tallest building in the city center.
A glass tower rose toward the sky.
At its peak was a constellation symbol.
“That’s their headquarters?”
Cassian nodded.
“Vesper Tower.”
Seraphine looked uneasy.
“We can’t go in there.”
Lyra looked at her.
“Why not?”
“Because if Edmund really activated the protocol, he’ll be waiting for you.”
Lyra let out a breath.
“Good.”
Seraphine stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“I want to meet him.”
Cassian turned toward her.
“Lyra.”
“I want to see the face of the person who planned my life.”
“You’re not ready.”
“I don’t care anymore.”
Lyra stared at the tower.
“For twenty-three years, I’ve lived a lie.”
She clenched her necklace.
“I want to live just one day according to my own choice.”
Cassian was silent.
At last, he said,
“All right.”
Seraphine stared at him in disbelief.
“Cassian.”
“I’m not going to stop her.”
“She could die.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Cassian looked at Lyra through the rearview mirror.
“Because Adrian once told me something.”
“What?”
Cassian answered,
“Never choose Lyra’s path for her.”
Lyra looked at him.
The words felt different.
For the first time, someone wasn’t trying to decide what she should do.
Night had fallen by the time they reached a small apartment.
Cassian led them inside.
“We’re safe here for the time being.”
Lyra sat on the couch.
Seraphine went to the bathroom.
Cassian made tea.
Lyra watched him.
“Are you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Calm.”
Cassian handed her a cup.
“No.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
“You look very calm.”
“That’s because I don’t show what I’m feeling.”
“Why not?”
Cassian sat across from her.
“Because when I start showing my feelings, the people who want to hurt you will know my weakness.”
Lyra fell silent.
“Are you afraid?”
Cassian looked at her.
“Every day.”
His answer took Lyra by surprise.
She hadn’t expected a man like Cassian to admit he was afraid.
“Afraid of losing whom?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
Instead, he stood.
“I’ll check the door.”
Lyra watched him leave.
There was something about him she couldn’t understand.
But before she could think any further, Seraphine came out of the bathroom.
Her face was pale.
“Mom?”
Seraphine didn’t answer.
She walked over to Lyra.
Then she handed her a small object.
A key.
“This belonged to your father.”
Lyra took it.
“What key is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you only giving it to me now?”
Seraphine looked at her.
“Because I was never sure whether you were ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Seraphine drew a breath.
“To learn who your father really was.”
Lyra stared at the key.
“He wasn’t just the heir to the Vesper family.”
Seraphine sat down.
“Adrian was the person who created a system to fight Astra.”
Lyra froze.
“What?”
“He found a way to protect human memories from manipulation.”
Lyra looked at the key.
“And that system?”
“It still exists.”
“Where?”
Seraphine looked at her.
“At the last place your father visited before he died.”
Lyra waited.
Seraphine said quietly,
“A hospital.”
Lyra frowned.
“A hospital?”
“The hospital where you were born.”
Lyra’s heart began to race.
“Why?”
Seraphine looked at her.
“Because on the night you were born...”
She stopped.
“...you weren’t the only one born.”
Lyra frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Seraphine hadn’t had time to answer.
Cassian’s phone suddenly rang.
Cassian came out of the bedroom.
His expression changed when he saw the screen.
“Who is it?” Lyra asked.
Cassian didn’t answer.
He picked up the call.
“Yes.”
Someone spoke on the other end.
Cassian’s expression slowly changed.
“Repeat that.”
Silence.
Then Cassian hung up.
Lyra stood.
“What happened?”
Cassian looked at her.
“The hospital where you were born...”
He stopped.
“It burned down twenty-three years ago.”
Lyra froze.
“And last night...”
Cassian continued,
“...someone just found a body in the ruins.”
“Who?”
Cassian looked at Lyra.
“A woman.”
“Who?”
“Her name was Mara Vesper.”
Lyra’s world seemed to stop.
Mara.
The mother who had raised her.
The woman who had just been buried three days ago.
Lyra whispered,
“That’s impossible.”
Cassian nodded slowly.
“That’s the problem.”
He looked at Seraphine.
Seraphine had gone pale.
“Because if that body really is Mara...”
Cassian continued,
“...then the woman we buried three days ago wasn’t Mara.”
Lyra couldn’t say a word.
The constellation-shaped pendant around her neck suddenly felt hot.
Then there was a small click.
A hidden section of the pendant opened.
Inside was a miniature photograph.
A photograph of a baby.
And written on the back of the photograph was a single sentence:
LYRA WAS NEVER ALONE.
To be continued...