Lyra stared at the photograph for so long that her eyes began to sting.
A baby was cradled in Adrian Vesper's arms.
Beside him stood a young woman whose face was hidden in shadow.
And hanging from the woman's hand was a constellation-shaped necklace.
The exact same necklace Lyra owned.
"Who is she?"
Cassian didn't answer.
Lyra turned around.
"I asked, who is she?"
Cassian drew a long breath.
"Her name isn't recorded."
"That's not an answer."
"Because no one knows who she really is."
Lyra pointed at the photograph.
"If she's a stranger, why was she there when I was born?"
Cassian looked at the image.
"Because she's one of the reasons your father hid you."
Lyra frowned.
"Why?"
"Adrian discovered something about that woman."
"What?"
Cassian walked past Lyra toward the old desk at the end of the room.
He opened a drawer.
From inside, he took out a notebook.
Its cover was badly damaged.
"This belonged to your father."
Lyra took it.
The first page was almost impossible to read.
But Adrian's handwriting was still clear.
If I fail, don't let them find Lyra.
Lyra turned the page.
There were several dates.
Names.
Locations.
Most of them had been crossed out in black ink.
But one name appeared again and again.
Astra.
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
"Astra?"
Cassian nodded.
"That name appears in all your father's notes."
"Who is Astra?"
"I don't know."
"You have to know."
"I don't."
Lyra stared sharply at him.
"For someone who's been protecting me since I was born, you sure don't know much."
Cassian wasn't offended.
"Precisely because I've been protecting you, I know when someone is deliberately hiding something."
Lyra opened the next page.
There was a short sentence.
Astra isn't a person. Astra is a system.
Lyra fell silent.
"A system?"
Cassian moved closer.
"Keep going."
Beneath the writing was a circular diagram.
At its center was a constellation symbol.
Several names surrounded it.
VESPER.
ARCADIA.
NOCTIS.
ORION.
And one name that had been almost completely blacked out.
Lyra touched the ink.
"Who did this?"
"Adrian."
"Why?"
"Because he didn't want anyone to read the last name."
Lyra looked at Cassian.
"Who is the last name?"
Cassian said nothing.
Lyra began to lose her patience.
"Why does everyone always go silent whenever I ask a question?"
"Because some answers can get you killed."
"And you keep repeating that line."
"Because it's true."
Lyra closed the notebook.
"I'm not afraid."
Cassian looked at her.
"Everyone says that before they're actually in danger."
Lyra was about to answer, but footsteps sounded from the hallway.
They both fell silent at once.
Cassian switched off the flashlight.
Darkness swallowed them.
The footsteps drew closer.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then they stopped.
Lyra held her breath.
Cassian signaled for her not to move.
The door slowly opened.
Someone entered.
The faint light from a phone screen illuminated the person's face.
Seraphine.
Lyra immediately let out a relieved breath.
"Mom?"
Seraphine closed the door.
"You shouldn't be here."
Lyra went straight to her.
"Why?"
"This place is dangerous."
"This place belonged to Dad."
Seraphine fell silent.
"That's right."
Lyra held up the notebook.
"I found something."
Seraphine looked at it.
Her expression changed.
"Where did you find that?"
"Here."
Seraphine took the notebook.
Her hands were trembling.
"You mustn't read this part."
"Why?"
"Because your father wanted all of this buried with him."
"That's exactly why I need to know."
Seraphine looked at her daughter.
"Lyra, there's a reason you were raised far from this family."
"Because I was being hunted?"
"It's more than that."
Seraphine drew a breath.
"Because you're the key."
"The key to what?"
Seraphine looked at Cassian.
Cassian slowly shook his head.
"It's time."
Seraphine looked startled.
"Are you sure?"
"They've already found this place."
Seraphine closed her eyes.
Then she looked at Lyra again.
"On the night you were born, your father didn't just discover someone who wanted to kill him."
Lyra waited.
"He discovered an organization."
"What organization?"
"Astra."
The name appeared again.
Lyra swallowed.
"What are they?"
"People who believe human beings can be controlled through their memories."
Lyra frowned.
"Memories?"
Seraphine nodded.
"They found a way to erase, alter, and even implant specific memories."
Lyra remembered what Cassian had said.
The Last Night Protocol.
"So I'm..."
"You were their first experiment."
Lyra froze.
"What?"
Seraphine took both her hands.
"They wanted to make you proof that human memory could be erased without destroying a person's personality."
Lyra stepped back.
"No."
"That's why your father fought them."
"And Mom?"
"I helped."
"Why?"
"Because I'm your mother."
Lyra looked at her through tear-bright eyes.
"Then why did you let me live without knowing anything?"
"Because I wanted you to have a normal life."
Seraphine brushed her cheek.
"And for twenty-three years, I believed it was the best decision."
Lyra fell silent.
"But now?"
Seraphine looked at her necklace.
"Now they've reactivated the Astra system."
Cassian took a device from his pocket.
The small screen displayed the same symbol.
"I picked up its signal earlier."
Seraphine nodded.
"That means they know where it is."
Lyra looked between them.
"If they know I'm here, we have to leave."
"Not yet."
Cassian stared at the wall.
"There's something you need to see."
He walked over to a wooden panel.
He pressed it.
Click.
A section of the wall opened.
Behind it was a small room.
Lyra stepped inside.
There was only one table.
One chair.
And an old camera.
A cassette sat on the table.
Seraphine immediately covered her mouth.
"Adrian."
Cassian picked up the cassette.
"What's on it?"
Seraphine shook her head.
"I've never seen it before."
Cassian inserted the cassette into the old player that was still there.
Static hissed.
Then a man's voice emerged.
A voice Lyra had never heard before.
Yet somehow, her heart recognized it at once.
"If this recording is playing, it means I'm already dead."
Lyra held her breath.
"I don't know who will find this recording."
The voice continued.
"But if Lyra is still alive, there's one thing she needs to know."
Lyra moved closer to the player.
Adrian's voice grew clearer.
"Lyra wasn't born to become part of Astra."
Seraphine looked at Cassian.
"She was born to destroy it."
Lyra froze.
Then the recording continued.
"And if they manage to find you..."
Adrian's voice suddenly grew quieter.
"...don't trust the person you love most."
The recording stopped.
The room fell silent.
Lyra looked at Seraphine.
Then at Cassian.
They both looked equally shocked.
But before Lyra could ask anything, an alarm sounded throughout the building.
Cassian turned around immediately.
"They're here."
"How many?" Seraphine asked.
Cassian looked at the device's screen.
"More than twenty."
Lyra gripped her necklace.
"What do we do?"
Cassian looked at her.
"We leave through the tunnel."
"And after that?"
Cassian was silent.
Lyra stared at him.
"What happens after that?"
Cassian answered quietly,
"After that, we have to find the person who created Astra."
"Who?"
Cassian looked at the screen.
A name appeared.
EDMUND VESPER.
Lyra froze.
"My grandfather?"
Seraphine closed her eyes.
And for the first time, Lyra saw true fear on her mother's face.
"Lyra..."
"What?"
Seraphine whispered,
"Edmund wasn't the person who created Astra."
Lyra waited.
"He was the person who led Astra."
To be continued...