Zariah didn't go home that night.
Instead, she wandered.
The city blurred past her like a fever dream, traffic lights bleeding into rain streaked windows faces passing like ghosts, th sound of her heartbeat pounding louder than the cab horn or distant sirens.
The slip of paper was gone. Jordan Ash had vanished. For the first time in years, her mother's death didn't feel accidental.
She found herself standing outside Vanguard Capital, staring up at the towering glass building that had both saved and swallowed her. The firm was dark now, a skeleton of itself after hours but Zariah could feel it's pulse, restless and waiting.
Her phone buzzed.
Dorian Voss: Are you safe?
She stared at the screen. How did he know?
Before she could reply, a black town car pulled up to the curb. The tinted window lowered just slightly and there he was, Dorian, his dark eyes unreadable in the low light.
Zariah hesitated only a second because stepping into the car.
Neither of them spoke at first.
The silence inside was think with things they weren't saying. Zariah could smell him, woodsmoke and rain, something sharp beneath it, like danger wrapped in velvet. His jaw was tight, his posture impossibly still.
"I was being followed," she finally said.
"I know."
She turned to him, pulse flaring.
"Then why didn't you stop it?"
Dorian's gaze flicked to hers, sharp as a blade. "Because it's not the time yet. You weren't supposed to meet Jordan."
"So you knew he was alive."
He didn't deny it.
Her voice cracked "You've been watching me."
"Yes."
Her fingers curled into fists in her lap."Why?"
Dorian's expression didn't shift but his voice lowered, rougher now.
"Because you're the last person who can bring them down and because if anything happens to you -"
He stopped himself.
Zariah lean forward, anger and confusion tangled in her chest. "Say it."
His eyes locked on her hers. "Because I care about you more than I should."
She flinched.
The tension in the care coiled tighter, like a string pulled too far. He wasn't just protecting her for some noble mission. He was afraid - afraid for her. Afraid of what she might uncover.
"And what happens when I find out something you don't want me to know?" She asked, voice soft but steady. "Do I stop being worth protecting?"
His jaw clenched. "You're asking questions with consequences."
"And you're hiding behind silence."
They stared at each other, the air changed, heated.
Zariah looked away first, chest heaving.
"I don't know who to trust anymore" she whispered.
Dorian leaned in. "Then don't trust anyone. Not even me."
A flicker of something passed between them. Not quite pain, not quite desire but it was something and it made her breath catch.
The car slowed.
They were at her apartment.
"I won't tell you to stay away," Dorian said quietly, his hand hovering just inches from hers, "because I know you won't. But be careful, Zariah. You've woken something now and they won't let it go quietly."
She opened the door, half in shadow, half in light.
Just before stepping out , she said what neither of them wanted to say aloud:
"I remember now. The night before my mother died... You were there."
Dorian's eyes widened just enough to break his composure.
Zariah shut the door before he could respond.