No Safe Shadows

Morning came gray and thin, clouds pressed low against the skyline.

Anya watched them from the kitchen, a steaming mug in her hands, her body braced though the day had barely begun.

Dimitri moved behind her, checking his phone. No good news. No new threats yet. But the message from last night echoed in both their minds:

We choose the hour.

Zoe padded in, bright-eyed, her curls half-tamed by sleep. She clambered up onto a stool and grinned wide.

“Can I have pancakes?”

Anya smiled—genuine, if small.

“Of course.”

Dimitri glanced toward them—father, protector, strategist in one frame.

The instinct to shield was constant now. But so was the knowledge: Zoe needed normal.

Joy, in spite of the war.

As the batter sizzled on the griddle, Pavel entered—silent, efficient.

“They’ve doubled surveillance at the school,” he reported quietly to Dimitri. “New driver, two new security shifts. Trusted.”

“Good,” Dimitri said.

Anya flipped a pancake with one practiced motion.

“What about the