The clerk arrived out of breath, not panicked but hurried enough that it showed. He stopped at the mouth of the storage corridor, eyes flicking from Dylan to the guards to the crate sitting under the open doorway like a question no one wanted to touch.“You sent for me,” he said.Dylan didn’t look away from the uniformed figure. “Stand by the door.”The clerk moved quickly, hands clasped in front of him, trying to make himself small.Lily watched the uniformed figure’s face. He was still calm, but the calm looked practiced now, not natural. Like a mask that kept being adjusted to fit the moment.Dylan spoke again. “Name.”The figure’s mouth curved faintly. “You already know.”“No,” Dylan said. “I know you’re not staff.”A pause.The figure glanced at the clerk, then back to Dylan. “If I give you a name, you’ll pretend it solves the problem.”Dylan’s eyes went colder. “If you don’t, you’ll confirm it’s worse than a name.”Lily felt the corridor tighten around that. Dylan wasn’t shoutin
Last Updated : 2026-03-10 Read more