CASSIAN
I arrived as the chaos was collapsing into order.
The maintenance annex door was open, security personnel moving in controlled formation, radios crackling with clipped Spanish I barely registered.
The perpetrator was already on the ground, face-down, hands zip-tied behind his back, two officers pinning him in place while a third read him his rights in rapid-fire Castilian.
But I didn't look at him.
I looked past the wall of bodies, past the tactical team clearing the space, past the discarded weapon now sealed in an evidence bag.
And I saw them.
Noah and Alex.
On the ground.
Too close.
Alex was half-braced over him, one arm extended like he'd just pulled Noah backward, both of them breathing hard, faces inches apart.
Something cold and sharp twisted in my chest.
My feet moved before my brain caught up.
I crossed the distance in seconds, pushing past a security guard who tried to brief me, shouldering through the perimeter Lake's team had established.
