Chapter 26

The drive back from the warehouse felt longer than usual, the silence between Erica and Julian heavy with unspoken thoughts. The man they had interrogated had given them valuable information—names, locations, whispers of where Ophelia might strike next—but it wasn’t enough to quiet the storm brewing inside Erica. Each mile they drove, the gravity of the situation weighed on her, twisting her stomach into knots.

Julian’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary, his jaw clenched in a way that told her he was still processing everything too. She could feel his tension radiating off him, but neither of them spoke.

Erica’s mind wandered to her father—how he’d always seemed so composed, even in the face of danger. She had never fully understood the depth of his world until now, and the realization stung. He had prepared her, but in doing so, he had kept her at arm’s length from the truths that would one day crash into her like a tidal wave. And now that wave was here, threat