The sound of gunfire shattered the night.
Lyra flinched.
Cassian immediately pulled her down.
“Don’t move.”
“But—”
“Quiet.”
A second gunshot rang out.
This time, it was closer.
The car’s rear window cracked.
Lyra covered her mouth with both hands. Her body trembled violently.
In all her life, she had never imagined she would find herself in a situation like this.
Armed men.
A car chasing her.
And a strange man who claimed to know her mother.
Everything was happening too fast.
Cassian got out of the car with a pistol in hand.
Lyra watched him through the gap between the seats.
She saw him move toward the back of the vehicle, then disappear behind the trees.
A few seconds later, two gunshots rang out.
Lyra squeezed her eyes shut.
She wanted to believe Cassian was on her side.
But what if he was actually just as dangerous as the people chasing them?
Her hand reached for the door handle.
She had to leave.
Now.
Lyra slowly opened the door and ran toward the forest.
She didn't care about the rain.
She didn't care about the pain in her leg.
She didn't care whether the path ahead was right or wrong.
There was only one thing she wanted.
Freedom.
“Lyra!”
Cassian's voice came from behind her.
Lyra kept running.
“Lyra, stop!”
She didn't look back.
Not until her foot caught on a tree root.
Her body crashed to the ground.
“Ow!”
Pain shot from her knee to her ankle.
Lyra tried to get up, but the sound of footsteps drew closer.
She held her breath.
Cassian appeared between the trees.
Rainwater streamed down his face.
“Are you insane?”
Lyra glared at him.
“I don't trust you.”
“Then you've chosen a terrible way to show it.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Cassian looked at the injury on her knee.
“Really?”
Lyra tried to stand.
Her leg gave out again.
Cassian sighed.
Then he crouched in front of her.
“I'll carry you.”
“Don't.”
“Lyra.”
“I said don't.”
Cassian stared at her for several seconds.
Then he stood.
“Fine.”
He walked away.
Lyra fell silent.
She hadn't expected Cassian to actually leave her behind.
But a few seconds later, he returned.
He was carrying a wooden stick.
“Use this.”
Lyra stared at it.
“You're not going to carry me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you'll keep complaining.”
For the first time that night, Lyra almost smiled.
“Hm.”
Cassian looked at her.
“What?”
“I didn't think you could joke.”
“I wasn't joking.”
Lyra shook her head.
This man was seriously strange.
They walked for nearly twenty minutes.
The forest grew darker.
The rain began to ease, but the air grew colder.
At last, Cassian stopped in front of an old building.
From the outside, it looked like an abandoned house.
The paint was peeling from the walls.
The windows were boarded up.
There were no lights.
“What is this?”
“A safe house.”
“A safe house that looks like a haunted house?”
Cassian inserted a key into the door.
“Haunted houses usually don't have security systems.”
The door opened.
Lyra stepped inside.
She was startled.
The inside of the house was completely different.
There was electricity.
A fireplace.
A small kitchen.
Even several monitor screens displaying images from cameras outside.
Cassian closed and locked the door.
Then he took out a first-aid kit.
“Sit.”
Lyra obeyed.
Cassian knelt in front of her and began cleaning the wound on her knee.
His touch was careful.
Lyra studied his face.
“How old are you?”
Cassian stopped.
“Why?”
“Because you talk like an old man.”
“I'm twenty-eight.”
Lyra nodded.
“Not that old.”
“I didn't say I was old.”
“You look old.”
Cassian gave her a flat stare.
Lyra smiled faintly.
For a while, the mood grew lighter.
But then Cassian said,
“You're twenty-three years old.”
Lyra's smile vanished.
“How do you know?”
“Your mother told me.”
“Of course she did.”
Cassian lifted his head.
“Lyra.”
“What?”
“There’s something you need to know.”
He took a black folder from the cabinet.
The folder looked very old.
Cassian placed it on the table.
“This belonged to your mother.”
Lyra moved closer.
Her fingers brushed the folder’s cover.
It bore the same symbol as her pendant.
A constellation.
Her heart began to pound.
“What’s inside?”
“Records.”
“Records of what?”
“You.”
Lyra opened the folder.
The first page made her breath catch.
There was a photograph of a baby.
A newborn baby girl.
Beneath the photograph, it said:
SUBJECT: L-23
STATUS: ALIVE
TRUE IDENTITY: CLASSIFIED
Lyra stared at the photograph.
The baby had the same eyes as her.
She turned the page.
There was a record of her birth date.
The same date she had celebrated as her birthday all these years.
But then she saw a single sentence.
“This child must not learn the identity of the Vesper family before the age of twenty-five.”
Lyra looked at Cassian.
“Why twenty-five?”
Cassian was silent.
“Answer me.”
“Because when you turn twenty-five, your inheritance rights will be transferred.”
Lyra frowned.
“Inheritance?”
Cassian nodded.
“An inheritance from your family.”
“I don't have a family.”
“You do.”
“Who?”
Cassian drew a long breath.
“The Vesper family.”
The name left Lyra speechless.
Vesper.
The last name she had used all her life.
The name her mother had given her.
She had always thought it was just an ordinary family name.
“So they’re...”
“Your family.”
Lyra shook her head.
“No.”
“They’ve been looking for you for twenty-three years.”
“If they’re my family, why did Mom hide me?”
Cassian looked at her.
“Because your father died.”
Lyra fell silent.
“And after his death, your family fell apart.”
“Why?”
Cassian didn't answer.
“Why, Cassian?”
“Because someone killed him.”
The room suddenly felt ice-cold.
Lyra stared at him.
“Who?”
Cassian shook his head.
“That’s what your mother had been searching for all this time.”
“And now?”
“Now they know you're still alive.”
Lyra closed the folder.
Her hands were trembling.
“I don't want to know.”
“You're too late.”
“I just want to live a normal life.”
Cassian looked at her, his expression unreadable.
“Your normal life ended tonight.”
Suddenly, one of the monitors beeped.
Cassian rose at once.
The screen showed the camera feed from the yard.
Someone was standing outside the house.
A woman.
Her hair was long.
She was wearing a white coat.
Lyra moved closer.
“Who is she?”
Cassian didn't answer.
His face had gone pale.
“You know her?”
Cassian stared at the screen without blinking.
“She was supposed to be dead.”
Lyra swallowed.
“Who?”
Cassian slowly turned toward her.
“Her name is Seraphine Vesper.”
Lyra froze.
“Who is Seraphine?”
Cassian didn't answer immediately.
Then the woman on the screen lifted her face toward the camera.
As if she knew they were watching her.
Her lips moved.
Cassian turned up the camera’s audio.
The woman’s voice came through faintly.
But it was clear enough to make Lyra feel as though the blood had stopped flowing through her veins.
“Lyra... I’m your mother.”
Lyra stood frozen.
Because the woman standing outside the house looked remarkably like her.
And for the first time, Lyra began to realize that perhaps...
the woman who had died three days ago wasn't the only person she had called Mom all this time.
To be continued...