Nathan stepped forward and gently placed a hand on Jonas’s shoulder.
“You did the right thing coming back,” he told him.
Jonas nodded weakly, though tears still clung to his lashes.
“I couldn’t catch them.”
“You weren’t supposed to,” Nathan said softly.
I stepped closer to Nevara.
“We will find him,” I told her.
She looked at me.
And the certainty in her expression told me she believed it wasn’t comfort.
It was a promise.
Across the plaza Kael was already directing teams toward the western streets, speaking rapidly to one of the security officers who had brought him a tablet.
Camera feeds.
Street access.
Movement through the outer corridors.
The entire square was being transformed into a search grid.
For several seconds after Kael disappeared into the moving lines of guards,
