WHERE BROKEN HEARTS UNITE

– Whispers

ling a flicker of something he

behind him, Captain Raleigh di

for his pr

line only used when the

r a pause. "We've got

n Raleigh's voice dr

m on his side. But if he gets t

-

cold corridors of District 7, unaw

one made eye contact. A few stared a s

y's gray wash of morning. Fog hugged the ground like se

nsactions.

Space. A place

idn't hav

any

-

stood staring a

mayor, half the council, and every high-ranking off

one thing Zio

me was in tho

up" operations from years back. Ghost files. Deleted names. Bribes

good. That someone had to keep order. Th

threatened to

drawer. Inside it lay

front in red: ZION

k on th

said, masking

ped in. "You still w

. No contact. If he tries to

. "And if he

narrowed. "The

-

e of Okholm's older districts. Zion moved like a man on

ows. He watched as Zion entered an old cathedral-

tes p

she ap

ghost

th caught in

n't a myth. She was real. Wrapped in a silver coat, ha

ion's chest. Spoke to him

omething deeper. Older. As if they had known

s. Stepped back

ed out h

irmed. He me

next. Zion's already gone to

ne. Watched the couple

just about

ad buried years ago. And it was cl

-

yra. "I think the

we don't run. We make th

eath shallow. He found Lyra-still, poised, her back turned. The light f

he said

didn'

I had to. Raleigh nee

tur

alm like fog on wat

u wh

voice low. "He needed to know what was g

sharp, slicing the qui

uried Antwon, that burned my name from the recor

He said he could

You thought you could hand the truth to someone

chest rising and

t corruption. Not just names. It was the blueprint for everyth

ra... I didn't mean

isk," she said bitterly.

an still fix this. We can act

ack, calmer n

on't fix betrayal

"I didn't

betrayed t

g, thicker tha

t him, stopping

ight for the truth, you'

e-vanished into shadows, leaving behi

-

in the empty cathe

n what he tho

he had to

to

brella, soaked to the bone, but numb to the cold. His feet took him back-to

he would come. He on

the altar, placed in a l

y

e center, palms

ispered. "I kn

the rafters. Cold. Sce

rust someone... anyone. I thought if I

ce ans

as wr

up, voice

Antwon died for. I thought I was protecting

s echoed

tu

was t

till uncertain. Her e

owly, hands

e me. But I'm not walking away

tared.

we're fighting for. And be

assed. Long

e walked

emption, Zion...

"Tell me w

"We take it all down. The mayor. Raleigh. Eve

after

tly. "Then you e

nto the candlel

city down if it mean

softened ju

's start w