Chapter 19 · The Woman in the File

The archive door hung open like a broken jaw.

Mara stopped three steps in. The timestamp on the nearest terminal said her mother had logged in six hours ago. Not ten years ago when they'd scraped her off a lab floor. Six hours.

Kade's hand landed on her shoulder. "Mara."

She shook him off and crossed to the terminal. Her fingers were shaking so hard she had to try the password twice. Her mom's old code. The one Kade had said in his sleep.

The screen flashed green.

Files poured down the display. Experiment logs. Personnel records. Security footage with timestamps running back fifteen years. She scrolled fast, looking for her mother's name, her face, anything.

"Slow down," Kade said behind her. His voice had that tight edge he got when the core was pulling at him. "You're gonna miss something."

"Then help me look."

He leaned over her shoulder. Close enough she could feel the heat off him. The countdown in his chest ticked audible in the quiet, a soft double-click every second. She tried not to count along with it.

A folder caught her eye. Project Nightjar.