The morning haze hadn't lifted entirely, but the apartment was already full of warmth—sunlight catching the table's edge, the smell of eggs still lingering, the faint scrape of Sienna finishing the dishes. It felt like the kind of calm that rarely lasted in our lives.
Which meant it was time to ruin it.
I padded softly into the hallway and headed for the bedroom where all 3 girls were sleeping on the bed, starting with Evelyn.
"Evelyn?"
She stirred instantly, blindfold still secure, body already turning in the direction of my voice. Her Cain Protocol reflexes were still intact.
"I'm up," she murmured, sitting up with slow precision. "I smelled breakfast earlier."
"Still warm," I said. "Come join us."
She nodded once and stood with the kind of smooth efficiency that only someone who'd been trained to kill in her sleep could pull off. No complaints. No grumbling.
I turned toward the next one.
Alexis.
"Come in," came the flat, alert voice from within.
