The Man’s Decree – Chapter 6000

Warm sunlight spilled across the step outside the lodge. Bamboo leaves swayed, shaking thin slats of shadow over the flagstones.

Lyza squinted into the brightness.

Jared and Luther stood beside her a heartbeat ago. Now their outlines shimmered, slipped between light and shadow, and were simply gone. Her fingers curled against her palm. Breath held, she shaped a prayer she dared not speak: Come back alive, both of you.

She spun to Panther and Monkey. Sunlight slid off her face, leaving only hard Intent.

"Pack everything," she said, voice low but sharp. "We move to Number Two safehouse exactly as the elder ordered. Fast, no trace!"