Chapter 63-
Lyra's POV
I didn't sleep.
Not because I couldn't.
Because sleep felt dangerous.
The black feather lay on the coffee table in my penthouse, illuminated by the pale glow of dawn. Beside it rested the white card.
PHASE THREE BEGINS.
Three words.
Three words that had turned my entire world upside down.
Again.
I had spent the entire night replaying every detail.
Kieller's accident.
The sabotaged brakes.
The escaped White Masks.
The envelopes.
Project Echo.
Aren.
Luna.
Ally.
Everything was connected.
I just couldn't see how.
Yet.
My phone rang.
Rael.
"Tell me you found something," I answered immediately.
"I did," he said without preamble. "And you won't like it."
I was already reaching for my coat.
"Where?"
"Police Headquarters. My office."
An hour later, I stood inside Detective Rael Callen's office.
Stacks of files covered every available surface.
Photographs.
Prison records.
Transfer documents.
Evidence logs.
Chaos.
Organized chaos.
Rael looked exhausted.
That worried me.
"Talk."
He slid a file toward me.
"The White Masks arrested in New York."
I opened it.
Then froze.
Every page carried the same red stamp.
TRANSFERRED.
Transferred.
Transferred.
Transferred.
Every single prisoner.
My eyes narrowed.
"Where?"
Rael's expression darkened.
"That's the problem."
He pointed toward the transfer authorization.
The destination field was blank.
Completely blank.
"That's impossible."
"Exactly."
Silence settled between us.
I slowly looked up.
"Someone erased the records."
Rael nodded.
"Someone powerful."
I shut the file.
Hard.
"So they're not escaping."
"No," Rael agreed quietly. "They're being moved."
A chill ran down my spine.
Moved.
Like assets.
Like experiments.
Like property.
The thought made me sick.
Rael opened another folder.
"This isn't all."
He pushed a photograph across the desk.
I stared at it.
And forgot how to breathe.
It was old.
Very old.
A grainy security image.
A little girl stood outside a large facility, clutching a stuffed rabbit.
Beside her stood another child.
A girl.
Slightly older.
Protective.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
"Where did you get this?" I whispered.
Rael studied me carefully.
"The archives of an abandoned research facility outside New York."
My hands trembled.
Because the younger girl—
Was me.
And the older one—
Was Ally.
No.
No.
That couldn't be possible.
I had never been there.
I would remember.
Wouldn't I?
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes.
White walls.
Screaming.
Chains.
Needles.
A voice.
"Subject Seven is responding."
I stumbled backward.
Rael caught my arm immediately.
"Lyra."
I jerked away.
Breathing.
I needed air.
I needed—
Memory.
No.
I didn't.
Because memory hurt.
And I was beginning to realize that forgetting might have been a gift.
"There's something else," Rael said carefully.
I forced myself to look at him.
"The facility had a name."
My heart pounded.
"What name?"
Rael hesitated.
Then—
"Echo Research Division."
Everything stopped.
Project Echo.
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too cold.
Too real.
Before I could speak, my phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
Against my better judgment, I answered.
Silence.
Then a distorted voice.
"Stop searching."
My blood ran cold.
The voice continued.
"You survived once, Subject Seven."
A pause.
"You won't survive twice."
The line disconnected.
I lowered the phone slowly.
Rael had heard enough to understand.
Neither of us spoke.
Because for the first time—
The enemy had finally spoken back.
Elsewhere.
Unknown Location.
A masked figure stood before dozens of glowing screens.
One screen displayed Lyra inside Rael's office.
Another showed Kieller unconscious in his hospital bed.
A third showed Aren entering a black car.
The figure tilted its head.
"Interesting."
A second voice emerged from the shadows.
"Should we eliminate the detective?"
The masked figure remained silent.
Then—
"No."
A white rose was placed on the desk.
"Not yet."
The figure smiled beneath the mask.
"Every queen deserves someone to uncover the truth for her."
"And when she finally remembers..."
A long pause.
"We'll bring her home."