[Jake's POV]
Apex Tower was awake when we returned.
Not busy. Awake. There was a difference. Busy meant phones ringing, assistants moving, people pretending urgency was the same as control. Awake meant silent corridors, sealed elevators, security teams positioned where normal employees would never see them, and a building holding its breath because everyone inside knew something had come back with us from the dark.
Adrian Cross was taken to a secure room before he could make another joke.
Darius handled it personally.
That meant Adrian would remain alive, uncomfortable, and very aware that honesty had become his healthiest option. Ethan limped after them despite everyone telling him not to, because apparently getting shot at had restored his sense of purpose and destroyed his ability to follow basic medical instructions. Claire watched them disappear down the corridor, then turned to me.
"Photograph," she said.
I gave it to her.
That was harder than it should have been.
