Silpha nods.
"She’s been hidden. Living in one of the scrap sectors outside the city grids. Quiet. Off the books. Safe."
Safe.
For three years.
Without me.
Without knowing if I was alive or dead.
My hands shake, and I don’t even bother to hide it.
"And the kids?" I manage.
"They're with her," Silpha says. "Both of them. Healthy. Strong. Fighters, just like their mother."
I press a bloodied hand against my side to steady myself.
Everything inside me cracks.
Splits wide open.
Kelli.
A boy.
A girl.
Alive.
Waiting.
Silpha’s voice drops lower.
"I came to find you because it’s getting harder to keep them hidden. Petru’s new dogs—mean bastards—are sniffing too close. If you want to save them, you need to move fast."
I grind my teeth until my jaw screams.
"You should’ve come sooner," I bite out.
"I couldn’t," she snaps back, raw. "Not until now. Not until I was sure you were strong enough to do something about it."
I glare at her.
Long and hard.
But the rage isn’t for her.
Not really.
It’s for the years lost.
The time stolen.
The life I could've had.
I lower the gun.
