Chapter 118 Chapter 118
They didn’t have to look far.
That was the first unsettling part.
Cass expected resistance. Hidden doors. Layers.
Instead, the system showed itself the moment they stopped wandering and started looking with intent.
It happened at school.
Of course it did.
Because that’s where everything had been quietly shaped all along.
The hallway outside the counseling offices was empty.
Too empty.
Lena noticed it first.
“Why does this feel like a setup?” she muttered.
Cass didn’t answer.
Because her eyes were fixed on the door at the end of the corridor.
Except for the fact that she suddenly knew they needed to go inside.
Jace stepped closer to her.
“You feel it too,” he said quietly.
Cass nodded.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Like something inside her was pulling in that direction.
The door opened before they touched it.
Not dramatically.
Just… clicked.
And slowly moved inward.
Lena immediately froze.
“Nope,” she said. “Nope, that’s not normal human behavior for a door.”
Jace didn’t react outwardly.
But his body shifted slightly.
Alert.
Ready.
Cass stepped forward.
Without hesitation.
Because at this point—
hesitation felt useless.
The room inside wasn’t what she expected.
No files.
No screens.
Just a desk.
Three chairs.
And someone already sitting there.
Waiting.
A woman.
Older.
Calm in a way that felt controlled rather than natural.
Her eyes landed on Cass immediately.
“You took longer than expected,” she said.
Silence.
Lena blinked. “Oh good, she’s been expecting us. That’s comforting.”
Jace didn’t speak.
Cass stepped fully into the room.
“You know why I’m here,” she said.
The woman nodded once.
“Yes.”
Her gaze didn’t move.
“You found the name.”
Cass’s fingers tightened slightly.
“Adrian.”
The woman didn’t react to the name itself.
Just to Cass saying it.
“That’s where most people stop,” she said.
Cass frowned slightly.
“I’m not most people.”
“No,” the woman agreed quietly. “You’re not.”
Jace finally stepped in beside her.
“Who are you?” he asked.
The woman looked at him briefly.
Then back to Cass.
“I maintain what remains,” she said.
Lena leaned against the doorframe slightly.
“That is the most cryptic job description I’ve ever heard.”
The woman ignored her.
Because she wasn’t here for Lena.
Or Jace.
Only Cass.
Cass stepped closer.
The woman didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
Cass’s voice dropped.
“Then you know where he is.”
A pause.
Then the woman said—
“Yes.”
Silence hit hard.
Jace’s posture tightened.
Lena straightened.
Cass didn’t move.
“Tell me,” she said.
The woman studied her.
Not judging.
Not hesitating.
Just… measuring.
“You’re not ready for that yet.”
Cass’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not your decision anymore.”
The woman tilted her head slightly.
“It never stopped being my decision.”
That hit differently.
Because it wasn’t defensive.
It was factual.
Jace stepped forward now.
“You don’t get to control this anymore,” he said.
The woman finally looked at him properly.
And for the first time—
there was a shift.
Small.
But real.
“You think control left?” she asked quietly.
That question didn’t need an answer.
Because they all felt it.
It hadn’t.
Not fully.
Cass stepped closer.
One more step.
Closing the distance.
“You’ve been watching me,” she said.
The woman didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since before you understood what you were.”
That made Lena mutter, “Okay, I officially hate this.”
Cass didn’t look away.
“What am I?” she asked.
The woman’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“An anchor,” she said.
Cass’s chest tightened.
“I saw that word.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
A long one.
Then—
“You stabilize what shouldn’t collapse,” the woman said.
Jace frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
The woman ignored him again.
Cass’s voice dropped.
“Stabilize what?”
The woman held her gaze.
That landed heavier than anything else.
Cass felt it immediately.
“No,” she said.
“I’m not part of that.”
The woman didn’t argue.
“You already are.”
Lena stepped in.
“You don’t assign an anchor,” the woman said calmly.
Silence.
Then—
“You identify one.”
Cass went still.
Because that felt different.
Not forced.
Discovered.
Jace’s voice hardened.
“Then why hide Adrian from her?”
The woman finally looked at him again.
“Because Adrian broke protocol,” she said.
Cass’s heart skipped.
“How?”
“He refused to remove the anchor.”
Silence.
Cass whispered—
“Me.”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
Jace frowned.
“That contradicts everything we’ve been told.”
“No,” the woman said. “It completes it.”
Cass’s breathing slowed.
Not panicked.
Focused.
“Then where is he?” she asked again.
This time—
the woman didn’t say no.
She leaned back slightly.
Studying Cass one last time.
Then—
“If you find him,” she said, “the system doesn’t just break.”
A pause.
“It collapses.”
Cass didn’t flinch.
“Good.”
That answer surprised all of them.
Even the woman.
Just slightly.
Silence stretched.
Then the woman stood.
Slow.
Measured.
And walked to the desk.
She opened a drawer.
Pulled out a small, thin envelope.
And placed it on the table.
“His last known location,” she said.
Lena blinked. “That was… easier than expected.”
The woman looked at her.
“It wasn’t supposed to be.”
Then back to Cass.
“This is where your choices stop being contained.”
Cass stepped forward.
Picked up the envelope.
Her fingers didn’t shake this time.
“Then they were never really mine before,” she said quietly.
The woman didn’t respond.
Because that was true.
Cass turned.
Jace followed immediately.
Lena pushed off the wall.
“Okay,” she muttered, “this is definitely where things go very wrong.”
Cass didn’t stop walking.
Not this time.
Because now—
they weren’t searching anymore.
They had direction.
And direction meant confrontation.
Behind them, the woman watched in silence.
Then reached for her phone.
And made a call.
“He has to know,” she said simply.
A pause.
Then—
“She’s coming.”
And somewhere—
far from the school—
a man who had stayed hidden for years finally looked up.
Because the one person he had tried to erase from the situation …
was about to find him anyway.