Lyra had never imagined that the house which had been her safest place for twenty-three years would become the place she wanted most to leave.
The knocking sounded again.
Three times.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Lyra held her breath.
She was still standing near her mother's bedroom window, clutching the letter she had just found. She had deliberately turned off the living room lights. Only the dim light from the bedroom illuminated her face.
Outside, the three men in black were still standing in the yard.
One of them approached the door.
"Lyra Vesper."
The deep voice made Lyra's body tense.
"We know you're in there."
Lyra took a step back.
How did they know her name?
She looked at the letter in her hand.
"I saved you. I didn't kidnap you."
"Not everyone looking for you wants to take you home."
For the first time, Lyra realized that perhaps her mother hadn't been hiding something from her all this time.
Her mother had been protecting her.
Her hands moved quickly as she slipped the letter into her bag. She put the constellation-shaped pendant around her neck, then took the black coat hanging behind the door.
The knocking grew louder.
"Lyra!"
She didn't answer.
Lyra's gaze shifted to the bedroom window.
The distance from the window to the ground wasn't too high.
She could get out through there.
Carefully, Lyra opened the window.
The night wind immediately struck her face.
The rain was coming down harder.
She glanced at her mother's room one more time.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
Then she jumped.
Her feet landed on the wet ground.
Pain shot up from her ankle, but Lyra didn't stop.
She ran toward the back of the house, passing the small garden her mother had tended all these years.
A few seconds later, the sound of the front door being kicked in rang out.
They were inside.
Lyra quickened her pace.
She didn't know where to go.
She only knew she had to get away.
Fifteen minutes later, Lyra was on the main road.
She was breathing hard.
Her hair was soaked through. Her shoes were caked with mud. The thin coat she was wearing did nothing to keep out the cold.
She hid behind an old bus stop and hugged her bag tightly.
A black car drove past.
Lyra immediately ducked her head.
The car continued on.
She let out a relieved breath.
But that relief lasted only a few seconds.
A voice came from behind her.
"You'll get sick if you keep standing in the rain."
Lyra startled.
She turned around.
A man stood a few steps away.
Tall.
He wore a long black coat.
His hair was slightly wet from the rain. His face was calm—too calm for someone standing alone on an empty street near midnight.
Lyra stepped back.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, his eyes dropped to Lyra's neck.
Toward the constellation-shaped pendant.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Lyra saw it.
"You..." the man said softly.
"What?"
"That pendant."
Lyra instinctively covered it with her hand.
"It's none of your business."
The man looked back at her face.
"You're Lyra Vesper?"
Lyra's heart seemed to stop.
She took a step back.
"Who are you?"
The man was silent for a moment.
"Cassian."
"Just Cassian?"
"Cassian Ardent."
The name meant nothing to Lyra.
Yet the way he said it made it seem as though Lyra was supposed to know him.
"Do you know me?"
"No."
"You know my name."
"I know your name."
"That's the same thing."
Cassian stared at her without expression.
"If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't be standing here giving you a chance to leave."
Lyra didn't answer.
Instead, she watched the road behind Cassian.
There was no one there.
But then the sound of a car engine reached them.
A black car appeared around the bend.
Cassian's expression changed at once.
"We have to go."
"I'm not going with you."
"If you stay here, the five people in that car will find you."
Lyra stared at the car.
Her heart began pounding again.
The headlights drew closer.
Cassian held out his hand.
"Trust me."
Lyra stared at that hand.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because your mother trusted me once."
Lyra froze.
Rain continued to fall between them.
"What did you say?"
Cassian didn't answer.
Instead, he took Lyra's hand and led her toward a dark gray car parked not far away.
Lyra tried to pull free.
"Let me go!"
"If you want to live, get in."
Cassian's voice wasn't loud.
But it was firm.
Lyra looked over her shoulder.
The black car had stopped in front of the bus stop.
The door opened.
A man got out.
Lyra had no choice.
She got into Cassian's car.
A few seconds later, the car sped away from the area.
They drove in silence.
Lyra sat in the passenger seat, hugging her bag.
Cassian drove calmly.
"Who are they?"
"The people looking for you."
"That much is obvious."
"Then don't ask about things you already know."
Lyra shot him a sharp look.
"You're annoying."
"I hear that a lot."
Lyra was about to retort, but then she realized something.
"How do you know my mother?"
Cassian didn't answer right away.
His hands remained on the steering wheel.
"A long time."
"How long?"
"Longer than I should have."
"What does that mean?"
Cassian finally glanced at her.
"Your mother asked one thing of me."
"What?"
"If they ever found you, I had to make sure you stayed alive."
Lyra's chest felt tight.
"Who are they?"
Cassian turned his attention back to the road.
"People who want something from you."
"What?"
"Your memories."
Lyra frowned.
"I don't understand."
Cassian didn't answer.
Instead, he reached toward Lyra's bag.
"The letter."
Lyra immediately pulled her bag away.
"What letter?"
"The letter you found at home."
How did he know?
Lyra regarded the man beside her with deep suspicion.
"Were you following me?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
Cassian fell silent.
Several seconds passed.
Then he said,
"Because I was the one who gave that letter to your mother twenty-three years ago."
Lyra felt her entire body freeze.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Cassian continued driving as though he had just said something ordinary.
But inside Lyra's head, one question kept spinning.
If Cassian had really known her mother since twenty-three years ago...
how much, exactly, had her mother hidden from her?
Suddenly, Cassian hit the brakes.
The car came to an abrupt stop.
Lyra nearly slammed into the dashboard.
"What is it?"
Cassian looked in the rearview mirror.
His face, calm until now, had turned serious.
Behind them, two black cars had stopped at the end of the road.
Cassian took something from beneath his seat.
A gun.
Lyra froze.
"You said you weren't one of them."
"I'm not."
"Then why are you carrying a gun?"
Cassian looked at her.
"Because I already knew they were coming."
He opened the car door.
"And now, Lyra, you have to decide."
"Decide what?"
Cassian pointed toward a narrow road beside the forest.
"You can come with me and start finding out who you really are."
He paused for a moment.
"Or you can go back to them and keep living a lie."
Before Lyra could answer, the sound of gunfire rang out in the distance.
To be continued...