she no longer existed whe

mber who once ow

tor who used to ask perm

al aide who had once tr

l carried wei

hout motion wa

long after the line had gone dead. The city moved b

not been

been r

than loss. There was no enemy left to fight-only absence

wered the p

she whispered to

no longer nee

_____________

er hand, refused t

issolved like mist, Ellio

vance the only way h

lease hit mi

NOUNCES INDEPENDENT

ckwell Industrie

read

closed t

r head. "He bypassed approv

itimacy," Luci

plied. "And ex

eration often masqueraded as courage. He overpromised. He undercalc

ould

rs were withdrawing. Elliot had stepped into a spotlight Lucien ha

idn't in

idn't inter

-INVESTIGATION OPENED-Luc

he said quietly. "I

ed. "You'r

es

ed her more than E

_____________

dn't inte

he weight of the day. Towers loomed like watchful gods. His

lence

in weeks, he walked

how he sa

el ambition. Warm light spilled from its windows, soft and go

ow

n sto

n't kn

and water and green life. The quiet hum

ined faintly with soil. Her movements were unhurried, prec

look

fr

in f

cogni

tween them-quick, e

e a fissure openin

e who doesn't belong

sing. Ob

owed. "S

curved her lip

m more than any b

the violence of restraint written into the way he held hi

ou need?"

answer-and found none

know," he

sted strange

ade sense. "That's usua

wild and deliberate, soft

fraid of being cut

o. But they're very particular abou

k deeper than t

had followed him-legacy, violence, power, expec

in a long while, de

our name?

nough to matter. "I'll te

most

mo

the door chimed softly behind hi

far away, powe

cause

ng living had just