Elias’s POV

The bookstore smelled like ink and old paper. It always did. But tonight, it was different.

The air was heavy. Saturated with something unsaid.

Amina had found the letter. I had known she would.

It was only a matter of time.

I watched her now, my fingers barely tapping the counter. A meaningless motion. A habit. A distraction.

She was gripping the edges of the book in her hands like a lifeline, knuckles white. Rayhan had left earlier, but now he was back, his posture tense, coiled. Sophie, ever the detective, was watching all of us like we were suspects in some crime she hadn’t quite solved.

And I—

I was listening.

People assumed silence was passive. That standing still meant being uninvolved.

They were wrong.

Stillness is power.

Stillness lets you control the board without ever moving a piece.

Sophie broke the silence first. She always did.

"So… who wants to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Amina flinched. Sophie caught it. Her gaze snapped to me next.

"You’re imagining things, Sophie," I said smoothly.

She narrowed her eyes. "Am I?"

Her voice was sharp, precise. She pointed at Amina. "She hasn’t turned a page in ten minutes." Her finger moved to Rayhan. "He looks like he’s either going to punch someone or run." And finally, she turned back to me. "And you—you haven’t written a word in your stupid ledger for the last five minutes."

Sophie was good. Better than most.

But she wasn’t as good as me.

I held her gaze, let a slow exhale slip past my lips. "You’re being dramatic."

Amina shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t used to lying. She wasn’t good at it.

But she tried. "It’s nothing."

Sophie let out a dry laugh. "You’re a terrible liar, Amina."

A pause.

And then, finally, Amina pulled the letter from her pocket and unfolded it.

Rayhan’s head snapped up.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t need to.

Sophie leaned in, her eyes scanning the words. I already knew what they said.

I had known long before Amina had read them.

You don’t know who to trust.

Sophie exhaled. "Well, that’s not ominous at all."

Rayhan’s jaw was tight. "When did you find this?"

"A few minutes ago," Amina whispered.

Sophie’s gaze flicked to me. "Do you know something?"

A test. A gamble. A move in a game she didn’t even realize she was playing.

I lifted my eyes to hers. Let her look. Let her search for something beneath the surface.

Then, finally, I said, "...No."

A lie.

She knew it.

I knew it.

But she wouldn’t call me out. Not yet.

Not when the real question wasn’t whether I knew something—

But how much.

And then—

The bell above the door chimed.

A new piece entered the board.

Max.

Unaware. Clumsy. Loud. A distraction.

At least, that’s what they thought he was.

I barely turned my head as he stumbled into a display, nearly knocking over a stack of books.

Classic Max.

His grin was wide, harmless, oblivious—until it wasn’t.

I saw it happen.

Saw the way his eyes scanned the room.

Saw the exact moment he noticed.

The tension in Amina’s hands. The way Rayhan’s fists were curled. Sophie’s stare.

And me.

Still. Watching.

Max wasn’t an idiot.

A fool? Yes.

But not an idiot.

His grin faded slightly. "Uh… Did I miss something?"

No one answered.

Max had walked into the middle of something he didn’t understand.

And now—

He was part of it.

Whether he wanted to be or not.

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