Chapter 3

Sophia zipped her suitcase with trembling fingers and dragged it to the front door. The apartment that had been her sanctuary for the past year now felt like a trap waiting to spring.

She checked her phone. The taxi was three minutes away.

Three minutes, and she would be gone. Three minutes, and she would never have to see Nightvale again. Never have to see Marcus's cold eyes or Bianca's venomous smile. Never have to look over her shoulder and wonder if today was the day Leonardo finally made good on his vow.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. Her mother's name flashed across the screen.

Sophia hesitated. She didn't have time for questions. She didn't have the strength for lies. But if she didn't answer, her mother would worry, and worry would lead to calls, and calls would lead to someone tracing them.

She pressed the phone to her ear. "Mom."

"Sophia? Where are you, darling?" Lily's voice was warm and lilting, the same voice that had sung her lullabies as a child, the same voice that had told her everything would be okay when they moved into the Ferri mansion. The voice of a woman who had no idea what her daughter had been enduring for eight years.

"I'm at home, Mom." Sophia's voice came out steadier than she felt. "But I'm leaving. I'm leaving Nightvale. I'm leaving the country."

A pause. Then: "What? Why? What happened, darling? Did something happen?"

Sophia closed her eyes. She couldn't explain. She couldn't tell her mother that she had woken up in Leonardo's bed with his marks on her body. She couldn't tell her that Bianca had orchestrated the whole thing. She couldn't tell her any of it because telling her mother would mean admitting that the past eight years had been a lie, and Sophia wasn't ready to break that illusion yet.

"Mom, I'll explain later. My taxi is here. I'm on my way to the airport."

"No." Lily's voice firmed with sudden resolve. "I'm coming to the airport. I'm seeing my baby off."

"Mom, you don't have to—"

"I need to, Sophia. Please. Let me see you before you go."

Sophia pressed her lips together, fighting the fresh wave of tears threatening to spill. "Okay, Mom. I'll see you there."

She hung up, grabbed her suitcase, and walked out the door without looking back.

The hotel's security room was cold and sterile, lit only by the blue glow of a dozen monitors displaying footage from every corner of the building.

Nico Falcon sat at the main console, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he pulled up the recordings from the previous night. Behind him, Leonardo stood with his arms crossed, his jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the screens with the intensity of a predator tracking wounded prey. Jason leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, watching with a grim sort of curiosity.

"There," Nico said, pausing a frame. "Hallway camera, east corridor. 5:47 AM."

The footage showed a woman slipping out of Room 1407. She moved with frantic urgency, her head down, her hair falling around her face like a curtain. She was dressed in the same burgundy dress she had worn the night before, now wrinkled and hastily buttoned. She closed the door behind her and froze for a moment, looking left and right like a cornered animal.

"Stop," Leonardo commanded. "Zoom in. Is that her?"

Nico zoomed in, but the image only grew more pixelated. The woman's face remained hidden a flash of pale skin, a dark sweep of hair, but nothing identifiable. When she ran, the camera caught only her back, a blur of burgundy and desperation disappearing down the corridor.

"I can't get a clear shot of her face," Nico admitted. "She was moving too fast."

Leonardo's fists clenched at his sides. The silence in the room was suffocating.

"I think I saw her," Jason said suddenly.

Leonardo turned. "What?"

"When I was coming in this morning. I passed a woman in the hallway. She was crying, her stuff spilled everywhere. I helped her pick it up." Jason frowned, trying to grasp the memory. "I didn't see her whole face either. Just the side. Her hair was covering most of it. But if I saw her again, out there... I think I'd recognize her."

"Then I'll be counting on you," Leonardo said, his voice low and dangerous.

Jason nodded. "Besides, she might come back. Later, I mean. She might be looking for something she left behind."

Leonardo reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain. A small pendant dangled from the end a delicate lily flower, catching the light from the monitors. He had found it beneath the bed when he had searched the room, tangled in the sheets.

"I think this belongs to her."

Jason studied the necklace for a moment. "Then we wait. If it matters to her, she'll come back for it."

"She'll come back," Leonardo said quietly. He closed his fingers around the pendant, the silver biting into his palm. "She has to. I took something from her last night. Something she can't replace."

The room fell silent. No one asked what he meant.

Leonardo turned to Nico, his eyes hard as flint. "But you're not waiting. You're finding her. I don't care how many cameras you have to hack. I don't care how many faces you have to scan. You find the woman who was in my bed, and you bring me her name."

Nico met his gaze without flinching. "Yes, boss."

The airport terminal was bustling with travelers and tearful goodbyes, but Sophia felt like she was moving through a world underwater. Everything was muffled. Distant. The announcements over the intercom, the rolling of suitcases, the laughter of families it all blurred together into white noise.

Lily stood before her, holding both of Sophia's hands in her own. Her mother's eyes were wet, her lips pressed into a trembling smile. She looked older than Sophia remembered. Tired. Like the years in the Ferri mansion had taken something from her, too.

"Take care of yourself, darling," Lily said softly. She reached up and caressed Sophia's cheek, her thumb brushing away a tear Sophia hadn't realized she'd shed. "And please, let me know when you get there. I need to know you're safe."

"I will, Mom." Sophia forced a smile. It felt brittle on her lips. "Thank you. For everything."

"Go," Lily whispered. "Before I start sobbing in the middle of the terminal and embarrass us both."

Sophia laughed a short, wet sound and pulled her mother into one last embrace. She breathed in the familiar scent of jasmine perfume and warmth, memorizing it. Then she let go.

She handed her ticket to the attendant at the boarding gate. Her passport was checked. Her luggage was weighed. Each step was another stitch pulling her further away from Nightvale, further away from the life that had broken her.

At the entrance to the boarding bridge, she stopped and turned back one last time.

Her mother stood among the crowd, waving with both hands. Sophia raised her hand and waved once. A single gesture. A goodbye.

Then she walked into the plane and didn't look back.

She found her seat by the window and buckled herself in. The engines rumbled to life beneath her. The plane began to taxi down the runway, slowly at first, then faster, then faster still, until the ground fell away and Nightvale shrank beneath her, becoming a patchwork of lights and shadows and memories she wanted to forget.

Sophia pressed her forehead against the cold glass and watched her old life disappear.

"Goodbye, Nightvale," she whispered. The words were so quiet no one could hear them over the hum of the engines. "Goodbye, Leo. I hope we never see each other again."

A single tear slipped from her eye and traced a silver path down her cheek.